Torch.jit.trace() call forward() three times?

jit
1

I happen to find that torch.jit.trace() will call forward() three times, run the code below:

import torch

class MyCell(torch.nn.Module):
    def __init__(self):
        super(MyCell, self).__init__()
        self.linear = torch.nn.Linear(4, 4)

    def forward(self, x, h):
        print("execute forward")
        new_h = torch.tanh(self.linear(x) + h)
        return new_h, new_h

my_cell = MyCell()
x = torch.rand(3, 4)
h = torch.rand(3, 4)
traced_cell = torch.jit.trace(my_cell, (x, h))

The output is

execute forward
execute forward
execute forward

I also test other model, they all show call forward() three times, so why torch.jit.trace() need call forward() three times, and what is purpose of each time ? Thanks !

2

TorchScript will optimize the model and uses multiple forward passes to do so.