A Library for General Genetic Algorithm with Sequential/Parallel Fitness Function Calculation

In this paper, we describe a library for Java, which enables easy usage of a genetic algorithm in a project. The library - Genetic Algorithm Library for Java (GAL4J) - contains multiple utilizable variants of individual parts of the genetic algorithm and also enables parallel computation of the fitness values of the individuals. The usability of the library was demonstrated on two classical problems. The speed of the GAL4J genetic algorithm using sequential and parallel fitness function calculation was investigated. The GAL4J was also compared to two existing GA libraries of third parties.