Project Title

char-rnn — Multi-layer Recurrent Neural Networks for Character-Level Language Models in Torch

Overview

char-rnn is an open-source Lua project that implements multi-layer Recurrent Neural Networks (RNN, LSTM, and GRU) for training and sampling from character-level language models. It allows users to train a model on a text file and generate new text that mimics the style of the original data. This project stands out for its efficiency, as it supports mini-batches and GPU acceleration, and its flexibility with multiple RNN architectures.

Key Features

Multi-layer RNN, LSTM, and GRU architectures for character-level language modeling
Efficient training with support for mini-batches and GPU acceleration
Flexible model checkpointing and customization options
Preprocessing and convenience caching for dataset management

Use Cases

Generating new text in the style of a given dataset, such as literature or code
Training custom language models for specific domains or applications
Research and development in natural language processing and machine learning

Advantages

High efficiency with GPU support and mini-batch processing
Supports multiple RNN architectures for flexibility in model selection
Open-source and community-driven, allowing for continuous improvement and updates

Limitations / Considerations

Requires knowledge of Lua and Torch for setup and customization
May have a steeper learning curve for those unfamiliar with neural networks
The effectiveness of the model is highly dependent on the size and quality of the training data

torch-rnn: A cleaner and more efficient re-implementation of char-rnn, using Adam for optimization and hard-coding RNN/LSTM passes for efficiency.
RNNLM: A more traditional approach to language modeling using LSTM networks, with a focus on word-level rather than character-level modeling.
AWD-LSTM: An advanced LSTM model that incorporates weight dropout and zoneout regularization techniques for improved performance.

Basic Information

GitHub: https://github.com/karpathy/char-rnn
Stars: 11,825
License: Unknown
Last Commit: 2025-08-19

Requirements:

Lua and Torch for code execution
Additional LuaRocks packages: nngraph, optim, nn
CUDA Toolkit for GPU acceleration (optional)
cltorch and clnn packages for OpenCL GPU support (optional)

📊 Project Information

Project Name: char-rnn
GitHub URL: https://github.com/karpathy/char-rnn
Programming Language: Lua
⭐ Stars: 11,825
🍴 Forks: 2,615
📅 Created: 2015-05-21
🔄 Last Updated: 2025-08-19

🏷️ Project Topics

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char-rnn

Project Description