# Why We Do Not Evolve Software? Analysis of Evolutionary Algorithms

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1810.07074 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1810.07074/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 12 Oct 2018.

## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [Evolution and The Knightian Blindspot of Machine Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.13075/) (2025)
- [Evolutionary Programmer: Autonomously Creating Path Planning Programs based on Evolutionary Algorithms](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.02970/) (2022)
- [Optimization Problem Solving Can Transition to Evolutionary Agentic Workflows](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.04354/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

In this paper, we review the state-of-the-art results in evolutionary computation and observe that we do not evolve non trivial software from scratch and with no human intervention. A number of possible explanations are considered, but we conclude that computational complexity of the problem prevents it from being solved as currently attempted. A detailed analysis of necessary and available computational resources is provided to support our findings.