7. The PopLibs libraries

The PopLibs libraries provide application-level functions that can be used in programs for the IPU. The available libraries are listed in the table below.

Library	Description
`poplin`	Linear algebra functions (matrix multiplications, convolutions)
`popnn`	Functions used in neural networks (for example, non-linearities, pooling and loss functions)
`popops`	Functions for operations on tensors in control programs (elementwise functions and reductions)
`poprand`	Functions for populating tensors with random numbers
`popsparse`	Functions for operating on sparse tensors
`poputil`	General utility functions for building graphs

Examples using the library functions can be found in the Graphcore GitHub tutorials repository, including a tutorial on PopLibs operations.

For details of all the functions in the PopLibs libraries, see the Poplar and PopLibs API Reference.

7.1. Using PopLibs

The PopLibs libraries are in the lib directory of the Poplar installation. Each library has its own include directory and library object file. For example, the include files for the popops library are in the include/popops directory:

#include <include/popops/ElementWise.hpp>

You will need to link the relevant PopLibs libraries with your program, in addition to the Poplar library. For example:

$ g++ -std=c++11 my-program.cpp -lpoplar -lpopops

Some libraries are dependent on other libraries, which you will also need to link with your program. See the Poplar and PopLibs API Reference for details.