PyCUTEst

Python interface to the CUTEst optimization test environment

Release: 1.4

Date: 24 October 2022

Author: Jaroslav Fowkes and Lindon Roberts

PyCUTEst is a Python interface to CUTEst, a Fortran package for testing optimization software 1. It is based on the interface originally developed for CUTEr by Prof. Arpad Buermen 2. Currently it supports Mac and Linux only, although on Windows 10 (and later) it can be used through the Windows Subsystem for Linux, following the Linux installation instructions.

In essence, this package gives convenient access to a large collection of nonlinear optimization test problems.

PyCUTEst is released under the GNU General Public License.

The aim of PyCUTEst

PyCUTEst gives Python users access to the full CUTEst collection of optimization test problems via a simple interface for compiling problems (that automatically generates a C interface to the underlying Fortran package).

The main benefits of the PyCUTEst package are:

  • Enabling the use of the CUTEst test collection by the sizeable community of Python optimization software developers and users.

  • Allowing simple benchmarking of optimization algorithms and software in Python against a widely used standard collection of test problems.

Our aim is for PyCUTEst to make it easier for both optimization users and software developers to develop and test new and existing algorithms and software in Python.

References

1

Gould, N. I. M., Orban, D. and Toint, P. L. (2015) CUTEst: a Constrained and Unconstrained Testing Environment with safe threads for mathematical optimization, Computational Optimization and Applications, vol. 60, no. 3, pp. 545-557. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10589-014-9687-3

2

Buermen, A. Python interface to CUTEr test problems for optimization. http://fides.fe.uni-lj.si/~arpadb/software-pycuter.html