Cultured Perl: Genetic Algorithms, The Next Generation

BritMit writes "One of the more intriguing types of algorithm is the genetic algorithm. Genetic algorithms mimic Darwinian natural selection, where "fitness" selects individuals for survival, breeding, and, hence, adaptive mutation. A previous article: Genetic algorithms applied with Perl covered the background on this, and provided two Perl implementations, one that bred bytes and another that bred words. This follow-up article expands this idea of Perl evolution with more advanced material on genetic algorithms."

Comments

Re:hold on a minute?

[eddy the lip]

I know that's a joke, but just in case someone decides to take it seriously....

This is one of those persistent myths. Darwin apparently did dislike the way certain atheists tried to appropriate his work as a theological agrument, but there's no proof he ever disavowed evolution or converted back to Christianity at the end of his life. (Review: The Darwin Legend by James Moore)

That said, evolution and theology have little to do with each other. If you believe in God (or some version thereof), there's no reason to disbelieve that she/he/it used evolution as a mechanism of creation. Personally, I think a supreme being is an unnecessary complication, but that's not related to evolution either.

Genetic Algorithm Java Applets

[dgmartin98]

Here's a great site if you just want to learn a little more about genetic algorithms and how they work. The Java applets on the pages are kinda interesting too.

http://cs.felk.cvut.cz/~xobitko/ga/


Dave