This manual is a technical guide to the computer program avida, an auto-adaptive genetic system designed primarily for use as a platform in Artificial Life research. The avida system consists of a population of self-reproducing computer programs with a Turing-complete genetic basis, subjected to Poisson-random mutations. The population adapts to the combination of an intrinsic fitness landscape (self-reproduction) and an externally imposed (extrinsic) fitness function provided by the researcher. By studying this system, one can examine evolutionary adaptation, general traits of living systems (such as self-organization), evolutionary presures on digital life forms, and other issues pertaining to theoretical computer science, evolutionary biology, or dynamic systems.
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