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TensorFlow vs TensorFlow.js: What are the differences?

TensorFlow vs TensorFlow.js

TensorFlow is a popular open-source machine learning framework developed by Google, while TensorFlow.js is a JavaScript library that allows developers to run TensorFlow models directly in the browser.

  1. Architecture: The main difference between TensorFlow and TensorFlow.js lies in their architecture. TensorFlow is designed to run on CPUs, GPUs, and TPUs, while TensorFlow.js is specifically designed to run in the browser using WebGL, which enables high-performance GPU-accelerated computations.

  2. Deployment: TensorFlow models are typically deployed on remote servers or local machines, making them accessible through APIs or command-line interfaces. On the other hand, TensorFlow.js allows models to be deployed and run directly in the browser without the need for a server, enabling client-side machine learning applications.

  3. Language Support: TensorFlow supports multiple programming languages, including Python, C++, and JavaScript. TensorFlow.js, as its name suggests, is focused on JavaScript and allows developers to build and deploy machine learning models using JavaScript code.

  4. Model Size: TensorFlow.js models tend to have smaller sizes compared to traditional TensorFlow models. This is important for browser-based applications where minimizing the model size is crucial for faster loading times and reduced bandwidth consumption.

  5. Training Capability: TensorFlow provides a comprehensive set of tools and APIs for model training, including distributed training across multiple devices and servers. While TensorFlow.js also supports training, it is primarily used for deploying pre-trained models and making predictions in the browser.

  6. Community and Ecosystem: TensorFlow has a large and active community of developers and researchers, with extensive libraries, pre-trained models, and frameworks built around it. TensorFlow.js, being a relative newcomer, has a smaller but growing community, with a more focused ecosystem around browser-based machine learning.

In summary, TensorFlow and TensorFlow.js differ in their architecture, deployment options, language support, model size, training capability, and community ecosystem. TensorFlow is a versatile machine learning framework that can run on different hardware devices, while TensorFlow.js is specifically designed for running models in the browser using JavaScript, making it accessible to a wider range of developers and enabling client-side machine learning applications.

Decisions about TensorFlow and TensorFlow.js

Pytorch is a famous tool in the realm of machine learning and it has already set up its own ecosystem. Tutorial documentation is really detailed on the official website. It can help us to create our deep learning model and allowed us to use GPU as the hardware support.

I have plenty of projects based on Pytorch and I am familiar with building deep learning models with this tool. I have used TensorFlow too but it is not dynamic. Tensorflow works on a static graph concept that means the user first has to define the computation graph of the model and then run the ML model, whereas PyTorch believes in a dynamic graph that allows defining/manipulating the graph on the go. PyTorch offers an advantage with its dynamic nature of creating graphs.

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Xi Huang
Developer at University of Toronto · | 8 upvotes · 90.5K views

For data analysis, we choose a Python-based framework because of Python's simplicity as well as its large community and available supporting tools. We choose PyTorch over TensorFlow for our machine learning library because it has a flatter learning curve and it is easy to debug, in addition to the fact that our team has some existing experience with PyTorch. Numpy is used for data processing because of its user-friendliness, efficiency, and integration with other tools we have chosen. Finally, we decide to include Anaconda in our dev process because of its simple setup process to provide sufficient data science environment for our purposes. The trained model then gets deployed to the back end as a pickle.

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Pros of TensorFlow
Pros of TensorFlow.js
  • 32
    High Performance
  • 19
    Connect Research and Production
  • 16
    Deep Flexibility
  • 12
    Auto-Differentiation
  • 11
    True Portability
  • 6
    Easy to use
  • 5
    High level abstraction
  • 5
    Powerful
  • 6
    Open Source
  • 5
    NodeJS Powered
  • 2
    Deploy python ML model directly into javascript
  • 1
    Cost - no server needed for inference
  • 1
    Privacy - no data sent to server
  • 1
    Runs Client Side on device
  • 1
    Can run TFJS on backend, frontend, react native, + IOT
  • 1
    Easy to share and use - get more eyes on your research

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Cons of TensorFlow
Cons of TensorFlow.js
  • 9
    Hard
  • 6
    Hard to debug
  • 2
    Documentation not very helpful
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    What is TensorFlow?

    TensorFlow is an open source software library for numerical computation using data flow graphs. Nodes in the graph represent mathematical operations, while the graph edges represent the multidimensional data arrays (tensors) communicated between them. The flexible architecture allows you to deploy computation to one or more CPUs or GPUs in a desktop, server, or mobile device with a single API.

    What is TensorFlow.js?

    Use flexible and intuitive APIs to build and train models from scratch using the low-level JavaScript linear algebra library or the high-level layers API

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    What companies use TensorFlow?
    What companies use TensorFlow.js?
    See which teams inside your own company are using TensorFlow or TensorFlow.js.
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    What tools integrate with TensorFlow?
    What tools integrate with TensorFlow.js?

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    What are some alternatives to TensorFlow and TensorFlow.js?
    Theano
    Theano is a Python library that lets you to define, optimize, and evaluate mathematical expressions, especially ones with multi-dimensional arrays (numpy.ndarray).
    PyTorch
    PyTorch is not a Python binding into a monolothic C++ framework. It is built to be deeply integrated into Python. You can use it naturally like you would use numpy / scipy / scikit-learn etc.
    OpenCV
    OpenCV was designed for computational efficiency and with a strong focus on real-time applications. Written in optimized C/C++, the library can take advantage of multi-core processing. Enabled with OpenCL, it can take advantage of the hardware acceleration of the underlying heterogeneous compute platform.
    Keras
    Deep Learning library for Python. Convnets, recurrent neural networks, and more. Runs on TensorFlow or Theano. https://keras.io/
    Apache Spark
    Spark is a fast and general processing engine compatible with Hadoop data. It can run in Hadoop clusters through YARN or Spark's standalone mode, and it can process data in HDFS, HBase, Cassandra, Hive, and any Hadoop InputFormat. It is designed to perform both batch processing (similar to MapReduce) and new workloads like streaming, interactive queries, and machine learning.
    See all alternatives