Module/Class Name: BaseModel¶

from abc import ABC


class BaseModel(ABC):
    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
        pass

    def forward(self):
        pass

The BaseModel serves as a base class for other models, benefiting from the Python feature of inheritance and polymorphism. Designed with the Abstract Base Class (ABC), it enforces the subclasses to redefine forward method and to provide certain arguments during initialization, thus providing a common API for all subclasses.

Class Definition¶

The BaseModel class provides the skeleton for the further implementation of any specific model. It does not include any specific model related features but instead enables modularity, creating a structure that is reusable for every type of model desired.

class BaseModel(ABC):
    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
        pass

    def forward(self):
        pass

Parameters¶

args: This captures any number of unnamed arguments. You can pass a series of variables or a list of variables, which will be interpreted as a tuple by the method.
kwargs: This is used to pass keyworded, variable-length arguments. With **kwargs, any number of keyword arguments can be used. You can use **kwargs if you do not know the number of keyword arguments that will be passed to the function, or if it is optional to have any keyword arguments at all.

Method Overview¶

`init(self, *args, **kwargs):`¶

A special method in Python classes, it is called as a constructor in object-oriented terminology. This method is called when an object is instantiated, and necessary initialization can happen here. With *args and **kwargs as parameters, it provides flexibility by handling arbitrary number and type of arguments.

`forward(self):`¶

This is an abstract method that needs to be implemented by any class that extends BaseModel. The purpose of the method can change depending on the model, but it is usually used for forward propagation in neural networks.

Usage¶

As BaseModel is abstract, we cannot directly use it. Instead, we can extend it and implement the required methods in the child class. A typical example of subclassing would be:

class MyModel(BaseModel):
    def __init__(self, number_of_layers):
        self.number_of_layers = number_of_layers
        super().__init__()

    def forward(self):
        # Implement your forward pass here
        ...

In this example, the MyModel class extends BaseModel and overrides the __init__ and forward methods. This way, all the models you implement only need to inherit from the BaseModel and implement their specific details.

my_model = MyModel(10)
my_model.forward()

In this example, we instantiated an object of the MyModel class, passing in the number of layers (10), and then calling forward method on it.

Additional Information¶

Consider following Python's DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself) principle when using inheritance. Instead of writing the same code over and over again for different models, you can put the common elements of all models into a base model.
As you may have noticed, BaseModel adopts an Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) approach to structure the code, making it easier to manage and understand.
For a complete guide in Python's ABCs, consider checking the official Python's ABC documentation.