Support try/catch on the happy (nothrow) path

docs/src/limitations.md

@@ -82,27 +82,30 @@ julia> gradient(rand(3)) do y
 
 ## Try-catch statements
 
-Any expressions involving `try`/`catch` statements is not supported.
-```julia
-function tryme(x)
-  try
-    2 * x
-  catch e
-    throw(e)
-  end
-end
+Exceptions containing try-catch statements can be differentiated if the catch block is not reached (no error are thrown).
 
-julia> gradient(rand(3)) do x
-         sum(tryme(x))
+```julia
+julia> function safe_sqrt(x)
+           try
+               sqrt(x)
+           catch
+               0.
+           end
        end
-ERROR: Compiling Tuple{typeof(tryme), Vector{Float64}}: try/catch is not supported.
-Refer to the Zygote documentation for fixes.
-https://fluxml.ai/Zygote.jl/latest/limitations
+safe_sqrt (generic function with 1 method)
+
+julia> gradient(safe_sqrt, 4.)
+(0.25,)
+
+julia> val, pull = pullback(safe_sqrt, -1.)
+(0.0, Zygote.var"#76#77"{Zygote.Pullback{Tuple{typeof(safe_sqrt), Float64}, Any}}(∂(safe_sqrt)))
 
+julia> pull(1.)
+ERROR: Can't differentiate function execution in catch block at #= REPL[2]:3 =#.
 Stacktrace:
-  ...
 ```
-Here `tryme` uses a `try`/`catch` statement, and Zygote throws an error when trying to differentiate it as expected. `try`/`catch` expressions are used for error handling, but they are less common in Julia compared to some other languages.
+
+Here, the `safe_sqrt` function catches DomainError from the sqrt call when the input is out of domain and safely returns 0. Zygote is able to differentiate the function when no error is thrown by the sqrt call, but fails to differentiate when the control flow goes through the catch block.
 
 ## Foreign call expressions
 

src/compiler/emit.jl

@@ -36,22 +36,23 @@ concrete(T::DataType) = T
 concrete(::Type{Type{T}}) where T = typeof(T)
 concrete(T) = Any
 
-runonce(b) = b.id in (1, length(b.ir.blocks))
+runonce(b) = b.id in (1, length(b.ir.blocks)) &&
+             !any(((_,stmt),) -> isexpr(stmt.expr, :catch), b)
 
 function forward_stacks!(adj, F)
   stks, recs = [], []
   pr = adj.primal
   for b in blocks(pr), α in alphauses(block(adj.adjoint, b.id))
-    if runonce(b)
+    not_stack = runonce(b)
+    if not_stack
       push!(recs, Variable(α))
     else
       stk = pushfirst!(pr, xstack(Any))
       push!(recs, stk)
       push!(b, xcall(Zygote, :_push!, stk, Variable(α)))
     end
-    push!(stks, (b.id, alpha(α)))
+    push!(stks, (b.id, alpha(α), not_stack))
   end
-  args = arguments(pr)[3:end]
   rec = push!(pr, xtuple(recs...))
   P = length(pr.blocks) == 1 ? Pullback{F} : Pullback{F,Any}
   # P = Pullback{F,Any} # reduce specialisation
@@ -68,11 +69,10 @@ function reverse_stacks!(adj, stks)
   self = argument!(entry, at = 1)
   t = pushfirst!(blocks(ir)[end], xcall(:getfield, self, QuoteNode(:t)))
   repl = Dict()
-  runonce(b) = b.id in (1, length(ir.blocks))
   for b in blocks(ir)
-    for (i, (b′, α)) in enumerate(stks)
+    for (i, (b′, α, not_stack)) in enumerate(stks)
       b.id == b′ || continue
-      if runonce(b)
+      if not_stack
         val = insertafter!(ir, t, xcall(:getindex, t, i))
       else
         stk = push!(entry, xcall(:getindex, t, i))

src/compiler/reverse.jl

@@ -124,11 +124,6 @@ function instrument(ir::IR)
     ex = st.expr
     if isexpr(ex, :foreigncall, :isdefined)
       continue
-    elseif isexpr(ex, :enter, :leave)
-      error("""try/catch is not supported.
-            Refer to the Zygote documentation for fixes.
-            https://fluxml.ai/Zygote.jl/latest/limitations
-            """)
     elseif isexpr(ex, :(=))
       @assert ex.args[1] isa GlobalRef
       pr[v] = xcall(Zygote, :global_set, QuoteNode(ex.args[1]), ex.args[2])
@@ -258,7 +253,7 @@ function adjointcfg(pr::Primal)
     end
     if isempty(preds) || (!isempty(branches(b)) && branches(b)[end] == IRTools.unreachable)
       # If `b` is unreachable, then no context produced by the primal should end up branching to `rb`
-      push!(rb, xcall(Core, :throw, "unreachable")) # `throw` is necessary for inference not to hit the `unreachable`
+      push!(rb, xcall(Base, :error, "unreachable")) # `throw` is necessary for inference not to hit the `unreachable`
       branch!(rb, 0)
     end
   end
@@ -279,7 +274,7 @@ xaccum(ir, xs...) = push!(ir, xcall(Zygote, :accum, xs...))
 
 function passthrough_expr(ex::Expr)
     # Metadata we want to preserve
-    isexpr(ex, GlobalRef, :call, :isdefined, :inbounds, :meta, :loopinfo) && return true
+    isexpr(ex, GlobalRef, :call, :isdefined, :inbounds, :meta, :loopinfo, :enter, :leave, :catch) && return true
     # ccalls and more that are safe to preserve/required for proper operation:
     # - jl_set_task_threadpoolid: added in 1.9 for @spawn
     isexpr(ex, :foreigncall) && unwrapquote(ex.args[1]) in (:jl_set_task_threadpoolid,) && return true
@@ -297,9 +292,14 @@ function adjoint(pr::Primal)
     for i = 1:length(sigs[b.id])
       grad(sigs[b.id][i], arguments(rb)[i])
     end
+
+    has_leave = false
+
     # Backprop through statements
     for v in reverse(keys(b))
       ex = b[v].expr
+      has_leave |= isexpr(ex, :leave)
+
       if haskey(pr.pullbacks, v)
         g = push!(rb, stmt(Expr(:call, alpha(pr.pullbacks[v]), grad(v)),
                            line = b[v].line))
@@ -321,6 +321,18 @@ function adjoint(pr::Primal)
         continue
       end
     end
+
+    # This is corresponds to a catch blocks which technically
+    # has predecessors but they are not modelled in the IRTools CFG.
+    # We put an error message at the beginning of said block.
+    if has_leave && isempty(predecessors(b)) && b.id != 1
+        _, f_stmt = first(b)
+        li = pr.ir.lines[f_stmt.line]
+        li = LineNumberNode(Int(li.line), li.file)
+        pushfirst!(rb, stmt(xcall(Base, :error,
+                                  "Can't differentiate function execution in catch block at $(li).")))
+    end
+
     if b.id > 1 # Backprop through (predecessor) branch arguments
       gs = grad.(arguments(b))
       for br in branches(rb)

test/compiler.jl

@@ -245,3 +245,46 @@ end
     @test_nowarn g = back(1.)
     @test only(g) ∈ (1., 2.)
 end
+
+function f_try_catch(x,y)
+    z = x + y
+    try
+        if x < 0.
+            throw(DomainError("x is negative"))
+        end
+        z = 2z + x + y
+    catch err
+        @error "something went wrong" exception=(err,catch_backtrace())
+    end
+    return 3z
+end
+
+@testset "try/catch" begin
+    @testset "happy path (nothrow)" begin
+        res, (dx,dy) = withgradient(f_try_catch, 1., 2.)
+        @test res == 3 * (2 * (1. + 2.) + 1. + 2.)
+        @test dx == 3. * (2. + 1.)
+        @test dy == 3. * (2. + 1.)
+    end
+
+    function foo_try(f)
+      y = 1
+      try
+        y = f()
+      catch
+        y
+      end
+      y
+    end
+
+    g, = gradient(x -> foo_try(() -> x), 1) # 1
+    @test g == 1.
+
+    vy, pull = pullback(foo_try, () -> 0//0) # bypass because of expr
+    @test vy === 1
+    @test_throws ErrorException pull(1.)
+
+    err = try pull(1.) catch ex; ex end
+    @test occursin("Can't differentiate function execution in catch block",
+                   string(err))
+end

test/features.jl

@@ -416,8 +416,7 @@ function pow_try(x)
   end
 end
 
-@test_broken gradient(pow_try, 1) == (2,)
-@test_throws Zygote.CompileError gradient(pow_try, 1)
+@test gradient(pow_try, 1) == (2,)
 
 function pow_simd(x, n)
   r = 1