TensorFlow: getting variable by name

Question

When using the TensorFlow Python API, I created a variable (without specifying its name in the constructor), and its name property had the value

Answer 1

The easiest way to get a variable by name is to search for it in the tf.global_variables() collection:

var_23 = [v for v in tf.global_variables() if v.name == "Variable_23:0"][0]

This works well for ad hoc reuse of existing variables. A more structured approach—for when you want to share variables between multiple parts of a model—is covered in the Sharing Variables tutorial.