Remove old eager mode.

[mzient]

Category:

Other (e.g. Documentation, Tests, Configuration)

Description:

This PR removed the old experimental "eager" mode and tests for it.
Some small parts still used by pipeline debug mode were moved to a different file.

Additional information:

Affected modules and functionalities:

DALI eager.

Key points relevant for the review:

Tests:

• Existing tests apply
• New tests added
  • Python tests
  • GTests
  • Benchmark
  • Other
• N/A

Checklist

Documentation

• Existing documentation applies
• Documentation updated
  • Docstring
  • Doxygen
  • RST
  • Jupyter
  • Other
• N/A

DALI team only

Requirements

• Implements new requirements
• Affects existing requirements
• N/A

REQ IDs: N/A

JIRA TASK: N/A

[greptile-apps]

Greptile Overview

Greptile Summary

This PR removes the old experimental eager mode API from DALI, deleting over 3,100 lines of code including Python modules, C++ bindings, and tests. The key changes:

• Removed modules: nvidia.dali.experimental.eager, nvidia.dali._utils.eager_utils
• Removed tests: test_eager_coverage.py, test_eager_operators.py (removed from test runner)
• Removed C++ bindings: EagerOperator Python bindings, TensorList arithmetic operator overloads
• Preserved functionality: EagerOperator class and header files remain because debug mode (PipelineDebug) still uses them internally
• Refactoring: Extracted _Classification and _transform_data_to_tensorlist from eager_utils into new _debug_utils.py module for debug mode use

The refactoring is clean with no remaining references to removed code. The new _debug_utils.py module uses lazy imports (imports inside functions) to safely avoid circular dependencies with _debug_mode.py.

Confidence Score: 5/5

• This PR is safe to merge - it's a clean removal of deprecated experimental code with proper preservation of debug mode functionality
• The code removal is thorough and systematic with no remaining references to deleted modules. The refactoring properly extracts needed utilities for debug mode into a dedicated module. All tests for eager mode are removed from the test runner. The EagerOperator C++ class is correctly preserved for internal debug mode use.
• No files require special attention

Important Files Changed

File Analysis

Filename	Score	Overview
dali/python/backend_impl.cc	5/5	Removes eager operator bindings and arithmetic operator overloads for TensorList - clean removal of obsolete code
dali/python/nvidia/dali/_debug_mode.py	5/5	Updates import to use new _debug_utils module instead of removed eager_utils - minimal change
dali/python/nvidia/dali/_debug_utils.py	5/5	New file extracting _Classification and _transform_data_to_tensorlist from removed eager_utils for debug mode use - uses lazy imports to avoid circular dependencies
dali/python/nvidia/dali/fn/init.py	5/5	Removes call to _wrap_eager_op from operator wrapping logic - clean removal

Sequence Diagram

sequenceDiagram
    participant User as User Code
    participant FnInit as fn/__init__.py
    participant DebugMode as _debug_mode.py
    participant DebugUtils as _debug_utils.py (NEW)
    participant Backend as backend_impl.cc
    participant EagerOp as EagerOperator (kept)
    
    Note over User,Backend: Before: Eager Mode Active
    User->>FnInit: Import operator
    FnInit->>Backend: Expose EagerOperator bindings
    FnInit->>FnInit: Call _wrap_eager_op()
    Backend->>Backend: Register TensorList arithmetic ops
    User->>User: Use experimental.eager API
    
    Note over User,Backend: After: Eager Mode Removed
    User->>FnInit: Import operator
    Note over FnInit: _wrap_eager_op() removed
    Note over Backend: EagerOperator bindings removed
    Note over Backend: TensorList arithmetic ops removed
    
    Note over User,EagerOp: Debug Mode Still Works
    User->>DebugMode: Use debug pipeline
    DebugMode->>DebugUtils: Import _Classification, _transform_data_to_tensorlist
    Note over DebugUtils: Functions extracted from eager_utils
    DebugMode->>EagerOp: Call EagerOperator (internal use)
    Note over EagerOp: Kept for debug mode

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[mzient]

Copied from the removed _eager_utils.py

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CI MESSAGE: [39676940]: BUILD PASSED