def _check_shape(placeholder_shape, data_shape):
    ''' check if two shapes are compatible (i.e. differ only by dimensions of size 1, or by the batch dimension)'''

    return True
    squeezed_placeholder_shape = _squeeze_shape(placeholder_shape)
    squeezed_data_shape = _squeeze_shape(data_shape)

    for i, s_data in enumerate(squeezed_data_shape):
        s_placeholder = squeezed_placeholder_shape[i]
        if s_placeholder != -1 and s_data != s_placeholder:
            return False

    return True
check if two shapes are compatible (i.e. differ only by dimensions of size 1, or by the batch dimension)