does it matter if weights are loaded after or before a model is compiled?

Question

I am using model.load_weights to load the weights of a keras model. I am wondering if it makes a difference if the weights are loaded before, or after the model is compiled.

Answer 1

No, it does not matter.

Compile defines the loss function, the optimizer and the metrics. If you compile a model after loading the weights, you will lose the optimizer states, but there is absolutely no damage to the weights.

It is explained in more in detail in this answer.