Flax Linen: Create a parameter without explicitly naming it

[carlosgmartin]

I want to create a parameter in Flax Linen without explicitly naming it. The usual way to do this is something like

self.param("foobar", nn.initializers.zeros, [100])

However, I can't set a name, because this code runs multiple times, causing conflict:

flax.errors.NameInUseError: Could not create param "foobar" in Module EpisodeModel: Name in use. (https://flax.readthedocs.io/en/latest/api_reference/flax.errors.html#flax.errors.NameInUseError)

I'd like to create an anonymous/nameless parameter, whose name is assigned automatically behind the scenes, like it is for every other module (nn.Dense, etc.).

Is there a way to do this? If not, would you consider adding this functionality?

I see no reason to break symmetry with the way names are automatically assigned to any other created module.