Class Architecture<T>

Namespace

AiDotNet.AutoML

Assembly

AiDotNet.dll

Represents a neural network architecture discovered through NAS.

public class Architecture<T>

Type Parameters

T

The numeric type for calculations.

Inheritance

object

Architecture<T>

Inherited Members

object.Equals(object)

object.Equals(object, object)

object.GetHashCode()

object.GetType()

object.MemberwiseClone()

object.ReferenceEquals(object, object)

object.ToString()

Remarks

This class captures the structure of a neural network discovered through Neural Architecture Search (NAS). It includes the operations connecting nodes and optional channel information for cost estimation.

For Beginners: Think of this as a blueprint for a neural network. NAS algorithms explore many possible blueprints and find the best one for your task. This class stores that blueprint so you can:

• Save it to disk for later use
• Share it with others
• Load it to recreate the same network structure

Properties

NodeChannels

Optional per-node channel counts (typically output channels) used for cost estimation.

public Dictionary<int, int> NodeChannels { get; set; }

Property Value

Dictionary<int, int>

Remarks

When provided, hardware cost models can use these values to scale operation costs more accurately (e.g., accounting for channel expansion/reduction across layers). If not provided, cost models may fall back to assuming a uniform channel count.

For Beginners: This is a simple mapping like: node 0 has 16 channels, node 1 has 32 channels, etc. Some operations change how many features (channels) flow through the network, which affects compute cost.

NodeCount

Number of nodes in the architecture

public int NodeCount { get; set; }

Property Value

int

Operations

Operations in the architecture: (to_node, from_node, operation)

[JsonIgnore]
public List<(int ToNode, int FromNode, string Operation)> Operations { get; set; }

Property Value

List<(int ToNode, int FromNode, string Operation)>

Methods

AddOperation(int, int, string)

Adds an operation to the architecture

public void AddOperation(int toNode, int fromNode, string operation)

Parameters

toNode int

fromNode int

operation string

FromBytes(byte[])

Deserializes an architecture from a binary byte array.

public static Architecture<T> FromBytes(byte[] data)

Parameters

data byte[]

The byte array to deserialize.

Returns

Architecture<T>

The deserialized architecture.

Exceptions

ArgumentNullException

Thrown when data is null.

InvalidDataException

Thrown when the data format is invalid.

FromJson(string)

Deserializes an architecture from a JSON string.

public static Architecture<T> FromJson(string json)

Parameters

json string

The JSON string to deserialize.

Returns

Architecture<T>

The deserialized architecture.

Exceptions

ArgumentNullException

Thrown when json is null.

JsonException

Thrown when the JSON is invalid.

GetDescription()

Gets a description of the architecture.

public string GetDescription()

Returns

string

LoadFromFile(string)

Loads an architecture from a JSON file.

public static Architecture<T> LoadFromFile(string filePath)

Parameters

filePath string

The path to the JSON file.

Returns

Architecture<T>

The loaded architecture.

Exceptions

ArgumentNullException

Thrown when filePath is null.

FileNotFoundException

Thrown when the file doesn't exist.

JsonException

Thrown when the JSON is invalid.

SaveToFile(string, bool)

Saves the architecture to a JSON file.

public void SaveToFile(string filePath, bool indented = true)

Parameters

filePath string

The path to save the JSON file.

indented bool

Whether to use indented formatting.

Exceptions

ArgumentNullException

Thrown when filePath is null.

IOException

Thrown when the file cannot be written.

ToBytes()

Serializes the architecture to a binary byte array.

public byte[] ToBytes()

Returns

byte[]

A byte array containing the serialized architecture.

Remarks

For Beginners: Binary format is more compact than JSON and faster to read/write, but you can't inspect it in a text editor. Use this for production deployments.

ToJson(bool)

Serializes the architecture to a JSON string.

public string ToJson(bool indented = true)

Parameters

indented bool

Whether to use indented formatting for readability.

Returns

string

A JSON string representation of the architecture.

Remarks

For Beginners: JSON is a text format that's easy for both humans and computers to read. Use this method to save your architecture in a format you can inspect in a text editor.