ACM TechNews

A Field Guide to Genetic Programming

Press Release (04/14/08) Poli, Riccardo; Langdon, William B.; McPhee, Nicholas Freitag

The automated programming technique known as genetic programming (GP) is the subject of "A Field Guide to Genetic Programming," a new book by Riccardo Poli, William B. Langdon, and Nicholas Freitag McPhee. GP is a systematic, domain-independent method that computers can use to solve problems automatically, starting from a high-level statement of the task, says Poli, a professor in the Department of Computing and Electronic Systems at the University of Essex. The technique makes use of ideas from natural evolution, initially starting from random computer programs, then refines them through processes that are similar to mutation and sexual recombination, and the result is high-fitness solutions. Users do not have to know or specify the form or structure of the solution in advance, Poli says. Novel scientific discoveries and patentable inventions have already emerged from GP. The book is available for free under a Creative Commons license.

http://www.gp-field-guide.org.uk

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