← all repositories
MorvanZhou/Evolutionary-Algorithm

Evolutionary algorithms, explained with moving pictures

A Chinese-language tutorial repo that makes genetic algorithms and evolution strategies tangible through Python scripts and GIF visualizations.

1.2k stars Python LearningML Frameworks
Evolutionary-Algorithm
Velocity · 7d
+0.4
★ / day
Trend
steady
star history

What it does This is a collection of standalone Python scripts demonstrating classic evolutionary computation techniques: genetic algorithms, evolution strategies, NEAT, and microbial GA. Each script targets a toy problem—matching a target phrase, solving traveling salesman, pathfinding, or training neural nets via OpenAI-style distributed evolution strategies. The code is paired with Chinese video and text tutorials on the author’s site, 莫烦 Python.

The interesting bit The repo treats visualization as a first-class citizen. Every algorithm ships with an animated GIF showing the population evolving in real time, which turns abstract selection-mutation-crossover loops into something you can actually watch. It’s pedagogy through motion.

Key highlights

  • Covers GA, ES, NES, NEAT, and microbial GA in self-contained .py files
  • Animated GIFs for each example, generated by the scripts themselves
  • Bridges to neural nets: NEAT for supervised and reinforcement learning, plus distributed ES
  • Author has spun off a packaged version, MEvo, for reuse beyond tutorials
  • ~1,200 stars suggests it has found an audience among Chinese-speaking learners

Caveats

  • Documentation and commentary are in Chinese; English speakers get only the code
  • The repo is tutorial scaffolding, not a maintained library—expect to copy and adapt rather than pip install

Verdict Worth a look if you learn by reading code and watching populations converge. Skip it if you need production-grade evolutionary computation or English-language docs.

heatdrop uses Google Analytics to see which pages get read — nothing else. Your call. How we handle data.