finchge 1.0.1b13

FinchGE is a grammatical evolution library.

FinchGE: A Modular Grammatical Evolution Library

FinchGE is a modern Python library for grammar-constrained evolutionary search, built around grammatical evolution, modular operators, reproducible experiments, and benchmark-driven research workflows.

Features

• Define grammars using BNF-style syntax
• Supports standard genetic operations: selection, crossover, mutation, replacement
• Flexible fitness evaluation for various problem domains
• Modular and extensible design allowing conveniently plugin custom components
• Easy-to-read in-built logging and visualization
• Intuitive API with extensive documentation and examples
• Benchmark suite for regression, logic and control problems

Who is FinchGE for?

• Researchers experimenting with grammatical evolution and grammar-guided search.
• Python users who want to evolve programs, expressions, rules, or structured solutions from BNF grammars.
• Symbolic regression users who need grammar constraints or multi-objective search.
• Students learning genotype-to-phenotype mapping, derivation trees, and evolutionary search.
• Developers building custom evolutionary workflows with custom fitness, operators, or benchmarks.

Why FinchGE?

FinchGE is designed around grammar-first evolutionary workflows:

• BNF-style grammars define valid programs, expressions, rules, or policies.
• Genotypes map to phenotypes through explicit GE mapping.
• Derivation trees and mapping metadata can be inspected.
• Operators, fitness functions, initializers, runners, and algorithms are modular.
• Runs can be configured, logged, checkpointed, and reproduced.
• Benchmark suites are included for symbolic regression, logic, and control problems.

Installation

# Basic installation
python -m pip install finchge

# With optional dependencies
python -m pip install finchge[pytorch]    # PyTorch support for using pytorch models (for HPO or NAS)

Quick Example

Using finchGE is straightforward.

Step 1. Define grammar

grammar_file = "grammar.bnf"
grammar = Grammar.from_file(grammar_file)

Step 2. Define a Fitness Evaluator ; fitness_evaluator

fitness_evaluator = FitnessEvaluator(
    fitness_functions=StringMatchFitness(target="hello"),
    mapper=GenotypeMapper(grammar=grammar)
)

Step 3. Create GrammaticalEvolution instance and run

ge = GrammaticalEvolution(config=FinchConfig.default(),
                           grammar=grammar,
                           fitness_evaluator=fitness_evaluator)
ge.run()

For further details and more advanced usage, please check documentation at finchge.readthedocs.io, including Getting Started, API docReference and Examples

Status

FinchGE is currently beta software. The core library is usable for experiments, but APIs may still evolve as the project moves toward a stable release.

Contributing

All contributions are welcome!

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

Bug Reports and Feature Requests

Found a bug or have a feature request? Please open an issue on GitHub.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.