Hands-On Neuroevolution with Python

The _add_novelty_item function

This function allows the addition of new novelty points to the archive while maintaining its size. It has the following implementation:

        if len(self.novel_items) >= MAXNoveltyArchiveSize:            # check if this item has higher novelty than              # last item in the archive (minimal novelty)            if item > self.novel_items[-1]:                # replace it                self.novel_items[-1] = item        else:            # just add new item            self.novel_items.append(item)        # sort items array in descending order by novelty score        self.novel_items.sort(reverse=True)

The code first checks whether the size of the novelty archive has not been exceeded yet and directly appends a new novelty point to it in this case. Otherwise, a new novelty point replaces the last item in the archive, ...