This is a test implementation of a potential new initialization method. A testing file - new_initialization_method_testing.py - is included to allow for quick testing.
In summary here is are the major points:
1) Two new attributes of GA were created - gene_input and gene_input_type. gene_input holds the user's custom range(s)/domain(s) after it gets passed to the initialize() function. gene_input_type holds an array with the same length as the chromosomes that holds the input type of the user's gene_input on a gene-by-gene basis. It does this in the same exact way that index-dependent gene ranges/domains are handled. By making the gene_input_type array the same size as the chromosome, the elements can be paired very easily. The acceptable values for this are either "range" or "domain". With a range, any value between the two can be generated; with domain, only the two elements included can be selected from randomly.
2) As mentioned in change 1, the user now has to pass their range(s)/domain(s) to the initialize() function.
3) The package is capable of implicitly determining if a certain input from the user is a range or domain. Strings can only ever be a domain – if given an element that only includes integers, the program assumes range.
4) If the user wishes to use numbers only as a domain, they can specify this by directly interacting with the ga.gene_input_type (or through a setter function).
5) the initialize() function in the GA object determines the implicit range/domain assignments if the user doesn’t do so themselves.
6) The random_initialization() function is effectively the same, except there is now an if/else to determine if the user is using the built-in gene creation function or not. If they are, then pass the gene_input, gene_input_type, and current gene index as arguments to the gene function. If they are using their own function, random_initialization() functions exactly the same way as it does in the current master branch.
7) Based on all the settings mentioned above, the random_gene() function will create a value before passing it back to random_initialization().