--- # required metadata title: "rx_fast_linear: Fast Linear Model - Stochastic Dual Coordinate Ascent" description: "A Stochastic Dual Coordinate Ascent (SDCA) optimization trainer for linear binary classification and regression." keywords: "models, linear, SDCA, stochastic, classification, regression" author: WilliamDAssafMSFT ms.author: wiassaf manager: "cgronlun" ms.date: 07/15/2019 ms.topic: "reference" ms.prod: "sql" ms.technology: "machine-learning-services" ms.service: "" ms.assetid: "" # optional metadata ROBOTS: "" audience: "" ms.devlang: "Python" ms.reviewer: "" ms.suite: "" ms.tgt_pltfrm: "" ms.custom: "" monikerRange: ">=sql-server-2017||>=sql-server-linux-ver15" --- # *microsoftml.rx_fast_linear*: Linear Model with Stochastic Dual Coordinate Ascent ## Usage ``` microsoftml.rx_fast_linear() ``` ## Description A Stochastic Dual Coordinate Ascent (SDCA) optimization trainer for linear binary classification and regression. ## Details `rx_fast_linear` is a trainer based on the Stochastic Dual Coordinate Ascent (SDCA) method, a state-of-the-art optimization technique for convex objective functions. The algorithm can be scaled for use on large out-of-memory data sets due to a semi-asynchronized implementation that supports multi-threading. Convergence is underwritten by periodically enforcing synchronization between primal and dual updates in a separate thread. Several choices of loss functions are also provided. The SDCA method combines several of the best properties and capabilities of logistic regression and SVM algorithms. For more information on SDCA, see the citations in the reference section. Traditional optimization algorithms, such as stochastic gradient descent (SGD), optimize the empirical loss function directly. The SDCA chooses a different approach that optimizes the dual problem instead. The dual loss function is parametrized by per-example weights. In each iteration, when a training example from the training data set is read, the corresponding example weight is adjusted so that the dual loss function is optimized with respect to the current example. No learning rate is needed by SDCA to determine step size as is required by various gradient descent methods. `rx_fast_linear` supports binary classification with three types of loss functions currently: Log loss, hinge loss, and smoothed hinge loss. Linear regression also supports with squared loss function. Elastic net regularization can be specified by the `l2_weight` and `l1_weight` parameters. Note that the `l2_weight` has an effect on the rate of convergence. In general, the larger the `l2_weight`, the faster SDCA converges. Note that `rx_fast_linear` is a stochastic and streaming optimization algorithm. The results depend on the order of the training data. For reproducible results, it is recommended that one sets `shuffle` to `False` and `train_threads` to `1`. ## Arguments ### formula The formula described in revoscalepy.rx_formula. Interaction terms and `F()` are not currently supported in [microsoftml](../../ref-py-microsoftml.md). ### data A data source object or a character string specifying a *.xdf* file or a data frame object. ### method Specifies the model type with a character string: `"binary"` for the default binary classification or `"regression"` for linear regression. ### loss_function Specifies the empirical loss function to optimize. For binary classification, the following choices are available: * [`log_loss`](log-loss.md): The log-loss. This is the default. * [`hinge_loss`](hinge-loss.md): The SVM hinge loss. Its parameter represents the margin size. * `smooth_hinge_loss`: The smoothed hinge loss. Its parameter represents the smoothing constant. For linear regression, squared loss [`squared_loss`](squared-loss.md) is currently supported. When this parameter is set to *None*, its default value depends on the type of learning: * [`log_loss`](log-loss.md) for binary classification. * [`squared_loss`](squared-loss.md) for linear regression. The following example changes the loss_function to [`hinge_loss`](hinge-loss.md): `rx_fast_linear(..., loss_function=hinge_loss())`. ### l1_weight Specifies the L1 regularization weight. The value must be either non-negative or *None*. If *None* is specified, the actual value is automatically computed based on data set. *None* is the default value. ### l2_weight Specifies the L2 regularization weight. The value must be either non-negative or *None*. If *None* is specified, the actual value is automatically computed based on data set. *None* is the default value. ### train_threads Specifies how many concurrent threads can be used to run the algorithm. When this parameter is set to *None*, the number of threads used is determined based on the number of logical processors available to the process as well as the sparsity of data. Set it to `1` to run the algorithm in a single thread. ### convergence_tolerance Specifies the tolerance threshold used as a convergence criterion. It must be between 0 and 1. The default value is `0.1`. The algorithm is considered to have converged if the relative duality gap, which is the ratio between the duality gap and the primal loss, falls below the specified convergence tolerance. ### max_iterations Specifies an upper bound on the number of training iterations. This parameter must be positive or *None*. If *None* is specified, the actual value is automatically computed based on data set. Each iteration requires a complete pass over the training data. Training terminates after the total number of iterations reaches the specified upper bound or when the loss function converges, whichever happens earlier. ### shuffle Specifies whether to shuffle the training data. Set `True` to shuffle the data; `False` not to shuffle. The default value is `True`. SDCA is a stochastic optimization algorithm. If shuffling is turned on, the training data is shuffled on each iteration. ### check_frequency The number of iterations after which the loss function is computed and checked to determine whether it has converged. The value specified must be a positive integer or *None*. If *None*, the actual value is automatically computed based on data set. Otherwise, for example, if `checkFrequency = 5` is specified, then the loss function is computed and convergence is checked every 5 iterations. The computation of the loss function requires a separate complete pass over the training data. ### normalize Specifies the type of automatic normalization used: * `"Auto"`: if normalization is needed, it is performed automatically. This is the default choice. * `"No"`: no normalization is performed. * `"Yes"`: normalization is performed. * `"Warn"`: if normalization is needed, a warning message is displayed, but normalization is not performed. Normalization rescales disparate data ranges to a standard scale. Feature scaling insures the distances between data points are proportional and enables various optimization methods such as gradient descent to converge much faster. If normalization is performed, a `MaxMin` normalizer is used. It normalizes values in an interval [a, b] where `-1 <= a <= 0` and `0 <= b <= 1` and `b - a = 1`. This normalizer preserves sparsity by mapping zero to zero. ### ml_transforms Specifies a list of MicrosoftML transforms to be performed on the data before training or *None* if no transforms are to be performed. See [`featurize_text`](featurize-text.md), [`categorical`](categorical.md), and [`categorical_hash`](categorical-hash.md), for transformations that are supported. These transformations are performed after any specified Python transformations. The default value is *None*. ### ml_transform_vars Specifies a character vector of variable names to be used in `ml_transforms` or *None* if none are to be used. The default value is *None*. ### row_selection NOT SUPPORTED. Specifies the rows (observations) from the data set that are to be used by the model with the name of a logical variable from the data set (in quotes) or with a logical expression using variables in the data set. For example: * `row_selection = "old"` will only use observations in which the value of the variable `old` is `True`. * `row_selection = (age > 20) & (age < 65) & (log(income) > 10)` only uses observations in which the value of the `age` variable is between 20 and 65 and the value of the `log` of the `income` variable is greater than 10. The row selection is performed after processing any data transformations (see the arguments `transforms` or `transform_function`). As with all expressions, `row_selection` can be defined outside of the function call using the `expression` function. ### transforms NOT SUPPORTED. An expression of the form that represents the first round of variable transformations. As with all expressions, `transforms` (or `row_selection`) can be defined outside of the function call using the `expression` function. ### transform_objects NOT SUPPORTED. A named list that contains objects that can be referenced by `transforms`, `transform_function`, and `row_selection`. ### transform_function The variable transformation function. ### transform_variables A character vector of input data set variables needed for the transformation function. ### transform_packages NOT SUPPORTED. A character vector specifying additional Python packages (outside of those specified in `RxOptions.get_option("transform_packages")`) to be made available and preloaded for use in variable transformation functions. For example, those explicitly defined in [revoscalepy](/machine-learning-server/python-reference/revoscalepy/revoscalepy-package) functions via their `transforms` and `transform_function` arguments or those defined implicitly via their `formula` or `row_selection` arguments. The `transform_packages` argument may also be *None*, indicating that no packages outside `RxOptions.get_option("transform_packages")` are preloaded. ### transform_environment NOT SUPPORTED. A user-defined environment to serve as a parent to all environments developed internally and used for variable data transformation. If `transform_environment = None`, a new “hash” environment with parent revoscalepy.baseenv is used instead. ### blocks_per_read Specifies the number of blocks to read for each chunk of data read from the data source. ### report_progress An integer value that specifies the level of reporting on the row processing progress: * `0`: no progress is reported. * `1`: the number of processed rows is printed and updated. * `2`: rows processed and timings are reported. * `3`: rows processed and all timings are reported. ### verbose An integer value that specifies the amount of output wanted. If `0`, no verbose output is printed during calculations. Integer values from `1` to `4` provide increasing amounts of information. ### compute_context Sets the context in which computations are executed, specified with a valid revoscalepy.RxComputeContext. Currently local and [revoscalepy.RxInSqlServer](/machine-learning-server/python-reference/revoscalepy/RxInSqlServer) compute contexts are supported. ### ensemble Control parameters for ensembling. ## Returns A [`FastLinear`](learners-object.md) object with the trained model. ## Note This algorithm is multi-threaded and will not attempt to load the entire dataset into memory. ## See also [`hinge_loss`](hinge-loss.md), [`log_loss`](log-loss.md), [`smoothed_hinge_loss`](smoothed-hinge-loss.md), [`squared_loss`](squared-loss.md), [`rx_predict`](rx-predict.md) ## References [Scaling Up Stochastic Dual Coordinate Ascent](https://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/mbilenko/papers/15-sasdca.pdf) [Stochastic Dual Coordinate Ascent Methods for Regularized Loss Minimization](https://jmlr.csail.mit.edu/papers/volume14/shalev-shwartz13a/shalev-shwartz13a.pdf) ## Binary classification example ``` ''' Binary Classification. ''' import numpy import pandas from microsoftml import rx_fast_linear, rx_predict from revoscalepy.etl.RxDataStep import rx_data_step from microsoftml.datasets.datasets import get_dataset infert = get_dataset("infert") import sklearn if sklearn.__version__ < "0.18": from sklearn.cross_validation import train_test_split else: from sklearn.model_selection import train_test_split infertdf = infert.as_df() infertdf["isCase"] = infertdf.case == 1 data_train, data_test, y_train, y_test = train_test_split(infertdf, infertdf.isCase) forest_model = rx_fast_linear( formula=" isCase ~ age + parity + education + spontaneous + induced ", data=data_train) # RuntimeError: The type (RxTextData) for file is not supported. score_ds = rx_predict(forest_model, data=data_test, extra_vars_to_write=["isCase", "Score"]) # Print the first five rows print(rx_data_step(score_ds, number_rows_read=5)) ``` Output: ``` Automatically adding a MinMax normalization transform, use 'norm=Warn' or 'norm=No' to turn this behavior off. Beginning processing data. Rows Read: 186, Read Time: 0, Transform Time: 0 Beginning processing data. Beginning processing data. Rows Read: 186, Read Time: 0, Transform Time: 0 Beginning processing data. Beginning processing data. Rows Read: 186, Read Time: 0, Transform Time: 0 Beginning processing data. Using 2 threads to train. Automatically choosing a check frequency of 2. Auto-tuning parameters: maxIterations = 8064. Auto-tuning parameters: L2 = 2.666837E-05. Auto-tuning parameters: L1Threshold (L1/L2) = 0. Using best model from iteration 568. Not training a calibrator because it is not needed. Elapsed time: 00:00:00.5810985 Elapsed time: 00:00:00.0084876 Beginning processing data. Rows Read: 62, Read Time: 0, Transform Time: 0 Beginning processing data. Elapsed time: 00:00:00.0292334 Finished writing 62 rows. Writing completed. Rows Read: 5, Total Rows Processed: 5, Total Chunk Time: Less than .001 seconds isCase PredictedLabel Score Probability 0 True True 0.990544 0.729195 1 False False -2.307120 0.090535 2 False False -0.608565 0.352387 3 True True 1.028217 0.736570 4 True False -3.913066 0.019588 ``` ## Regression example ``` ''' Regression. ''' import numpy import pandas from microsoftml import rx_fast_linear, rx_predict from revoscalepy.etl.RxDataStep import rx_data_step from microsoftml.datasets.datasets import get_dataset attitude = get_dataset("attitude") import sklearn if sklearn.__version__ < "0.18": from sklearn.cross_validation import train_test_split else: from sklearn.model_selection import train_test_split attitudedf = attitude.as_df() data_train, data_test = train_test_split(attitudedf) model = rx_fast_linear( formula="rating ~ complaints + privileges + learning + raises + critical + advance", method="regression", data=data_train) # RuntimeError: The type (RxTextData) for file is not supported. score_ds = rx_predict(model, data=data_test, extra_vars_to_write=["rating"]) # Print the first five rows print(rx_data_step(score_ds, number_rows_read=5)) ``` Output: ``` Automatically adding a MinMax normalization transform, use 'norm=Warn' or 'norm=No' to turn this behavior off. Beginning processing data. Rows Read: 22, Read Time: 0.001, Transform Time: 0 Beginning processing data. Beginning processing data. Rows Read: 22, Read Time: 0.001, Transform Time: 0 Beginning processing data. Beginning processing data. Rows Read: 22, Read Time: 0, Transform Time: 0 Beginning processing data. Using 2 threads to train. Automatically choosing a check frequency of 2. Auto-tuning parameters: maxIterations = 68180. Auto-tuning parameters: L2 = 0.01. Auto-tuning parameters: L1Threshold (L1/L2) = 0. Using best model from iteration 54. Not training a calibrator because it is not needed. Elapsed time: 00:00:00.1114324 Elapsed time: 00:00:00.0090901 Beginning processing data. Rows Read: 8, Read Time: 0, Transform Time: 0 Beginning processing data. Elapsed time: 00:00:00.0330772 Finished writing 8 rows. Writing completed. Rows Read: 5, Total Rows Processed: 5, Total Chunk Time: Less than .001 seconds rating Score 0 71.0 72.630440 1 67.0 56.995350 2 67.0 52.958641 3 72.0 80.894539 4 50.0 38.375427 ``` ## loss functions * [*microsoftml.hinge_loss*: Hinge loss function](hinge-loss.md) * [*microsoftml.log_loss*: Log loss function](log-loss.md) * [*microsoftml.smoothed_hinge_loss*: Smoothed hinge loss function](smoothed-hinge-loss.md) * [*microsoftml.squared_loss*: Squared loss function](squared-loss.md)