# Simple Neural Network from scratch using NumPy (Python)

I added learning rate and momentum to a neural network implementation from scratch I found at: https://towardsdatascience.com/how-to-build-your-own-neural-network-from-scratch-in-python-68998a08e4f6

• Is it correct? Any suggested improvements? It appears to output adequate results generally but outside advice is very appreciated.
• With a learning rate < 0.5 or momentum > 0.9 the network tends to gets stuck in a local optimum where loss = ~1. I assume this is because step size isn't big enough to escape this but is there a way to overcome this? Or is this inherent with the nature of the data being solved and unavoidable.

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

def sigmoid(x):
return 1 / (1 + np.exp(-x))

def sigmoid_derivative(x):
sig = 1 / (1 + np.exp(-x))
return sig * (1 - sig)

class NeuralNetwork:
def __init__(self, x, y):
self.input      = x
self.weights1   = np.random.rand(self.input.shape[1], 4)
self.weights2   = np.random.rand(4, 1)
self.y          = y
self.output     = np.zeros(self.y.shape)
self.v_dw1      = 0
self.v_dw2      = 0
self.alpha      = 0.5
self.beta       = 0.5

def feedforward(self):
self.layer1 = sigmoid(np.dot(self.input, self.weights1))
self.output = sigmoid(np.dot(self.layer1, self.weights2))

def backprop(self, alpha, beta):
# application of the chain rule to find derivative of the loss function with respect to weights2 and weights1
d_weights2 = np.dot(self.layer1.T, (2*(self.y - self.output) * sigmoid_derivative(self.output)))
d_weights1 = np.dot(self.input.T,  (np.dot(2*(self.y - self.output) *
sigmoid_derivative(self.output), self.weights2.T) *
sigmoid_derivative(self.layer1)))
self.v_dw1 = (beta * self.v_dw1) + ((1 - beta) * d_weights1)
self.v_dw2 = (beta * self.v_dw2) + ((1 - beta) * d_weights2)
# update the weights with the derivative (slope) of the loss function
self.weights1 = self.weights1 + (self.v_dw1 * alpha)
self.weights2 = self.weights2 + (self.v_dw2 * alpha)

if __name__ == "__main__":
X = np.array([[0, 0, 1],
[0, 1, 1],
[1, 0, 1],
[1, 1, 1]])
y = np.array([[0], [1], [1], [0]])
nn = NeuralNetwork(X, y)

total_loss = []
for i in range(10000):
nn.feedforward()
nn.backprop(nn.alpha, nn.beta)
total_loss.append(sum((nn.y-nn.output)**2))

iteration_num = list(range(10000))
plt.plot(iteration_num, total_loss)
plt.show()
print(nn.output)

• "Is it correct?" Did you test it? – Mast Oct 24 '18 at 16:40
• @Mast Yes but it gets stuck in a local optimum where loss = ~1 occasionally, and I wanted to know if I'd inputted momentum correctly. – Seb Squire Oct 24 '18 at 19:30