I don't understand? It's a piecewise differentiable function and you maximize ho... | Hacker News

Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit

mlevental on Sept 6, 2019 | parent | context | favorite | on: Differentiable Programming Mega-Proposal

I don't understand? It's a piecewise differentiable function and you maximize how you maximize any such function: do gradient ascent where it's differentiable and compare against values at the boundary points (ie start, end of interval and points at which there's a removable discontinuity).

chillee on Sept 6, 2019 | [–]

I don't disagree that a gradient exists. As the other commenter commented, the gradient/subgradient will usually exist.

What I'm arguing is that this gradient will not allow you to optimize anything of interest for the vast majority of programs.

alexmlamb on Sept 6, 2019 | [–]

Yeah sometimes this is called a "subgradient".

Consider applying for YC's Winter 2027 batch! Applications are open till November 2.
Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact