Evolving Perl

A list of requirements for a genetic programming representation is put forward and a representation separating the genotype and phenotype with a linear genome is presented. The target language for the genetic program is Perl. The mapping process, between the genotype and phenotype, converts blocks of four genes into program statements. This process is context-free and therefore provides inheritable characteristics. The representation is tested by evolving a selection of list evaluation and manipulation functions which are all evolved from the same language subset, with good results.