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libprima
prima
Fortran2023–2026
libprima / prima

prima

PRIMA is a package for solving general nonlinear optimization problems without using derivatives. It provides the reference implementation for Powell's derivative-free optimization methods, i.e., COBYLA, UOBYQA, NEWUOA, BOBYQA, and LINCOA. PRIMA means Reference Implementation for Powell's methods with Modernization and Amelioration, P for Powell.

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REPOSITORY AT A GLANCE

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What it is

PRIMA is a package for solving general nonlinear optimization problems without using derivatives. It provides the reference implementation for Powell's derivative-free optimization methods, i.e., COBYLA, UOBYQA, NEWUOA, BOBYQA, and LINCOA. PRIMA means Reference Implementation for Powell's methods with Modernization and Amelioration, P for Powell.

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Where it is used

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What people are saying

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Also in these discussions

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This week on Hacker News

Nov 8–Nov 15 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/15/2026, 11:34:28 AM UTC.

No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.

Mentions over time

HN mentions by year18 dated mentions

Observed mentions: 2023-04-21 15:53:38 UTC to 2026-07-13 08:57:06 UTC.

02462023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 7 mentions; 1 submissions, 6 comments20232024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 7 mentions; 2 submissions, 5 comments20242025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 1 mentions; 0 submissions, 1 comments2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2027-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 3 mentions; 0 submissions, 3 comments. Incomplete calendar period.2026*

* An incomplete calendar period is marked with an outlined bar. Its count is not directly comparable with a full period.

Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.

View mention counts and date ranges
UTC ranges include their start and exclude their end. Select a period to filter the source evidence.
PeriodStart (UTC)End (exclusive, UTC)MentionsSubmissionsComments
20232023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC716
20242024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC725
20252025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC101
2026 (partial)2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2027-01-01 00:00:00 UTC303

What Hacker News says

7 sources
actinium226·May 30, 2024
I just recently made some Python wrappers for a Modern Fortran optimization library for derivative free optimization. https://github.com/libprima/prima It basically had to go through Fortran -> C -> C++ (with pybind11) -> Python. At one point we had a slightly simpler setup with Fortran -> C -> Python (with ctypes), but ended up going with pybind11 after some discussion with the SciPy folks who steered us away from ctypes.
In PyPy has been working for me for several years now
zaikunzhang·May 3, 2024
The developer of PRIMA here. If you use method "cobyla" from scipy.optimize.minimize, then answer is now. PRIMA already performs far better (in terms of the number of function evaluations). See the comparison at https://github.com/libprima/prima#improvements . The bugs are indeed only a secondary reason: they can only be triggered under special situations. They may not affect your usage at all (when it does affect you, the consequence is catastrophophic).
In Prima has got a Python interface
zaikunzhang·May 3, 2024
PRIMA is a package for solving general nonlinear optimization problems without using derivatives. It provides the reference implementation for Powell's renowned derivative-free optimization methods, i.e., COBYLA, UOBYQA, NEWUOA, BOBYQA, and LINCOA. The "P" in the name stands for Powell, and "RIMA" is an acronym for "Reference Implementation with Modernization and Amelioration". Thanks to the huge efforts of Nickolai Belakovski, PRIMA now has an official Python interface. It talks to Python via pybind11 and its C API instead of using F2PY. I hope PRIMA will provide an example of binding modern Fortran libraries with Python. Concerning Python, the next steps of PRIMA will be - making PRIMA available on PyPI; - making PRIMA available on Conda; - getting PRIMA into SciPy (see https://github.com/libprima/prima/issues/112 ). PRIMA is part of a
Read the rest
research project funded by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council and the Department of Applied Mathematics (AMA) at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). The current version is ready to be used in Fortran, in C, in Python, in MATLAB, and in Julia. ------ Who was Powell? (from https://github.com/libprima/prima#who-was-powell) Michael James David Powell FRS [1] was "a British numerical analyst who was among the pioneers of computational mathematics" [2]. He was the inventor/early contributor of quasi-Newton method [3], trust region method [4], augmented Lagrangian method [5], and SQP method [6]. Each of them is a pillar of modern numerical optimization. He also made significant contributions to approximation theory and methods [7]. Among numerous honors, Powell was one of the two recipients of the first Dantzig Prize [8] from the Mathematical Programming Society (MOS) and Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM). This is considered the highest award in optimization. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_J._D._Powell []https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsbm.201... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasi-Newton_method [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust_region [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_Lagrangian_method [6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequential_quadratic_programmi... [7] https://www.cambridge.org/highereducation/books/approximatio... [8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dantzig_Prize
In Prima has got a Python interface
zaikunzhang·Apr 27, 2024
Who was Powell? (from https://github.com/libprima/prima#who-was-powell) Michael James David Powell FRS [1] was "a British numerical analyst who was among the pioneers of computational mathematics" [2]. He was the inventor/early contributor of quasi-Newton method [3], trust region method [4], augmented Lagrangian method [5], and SQP method [6]. Each of them is a pillar of modern numerical optimization. He also made significant contributions to approximation theory and methods [7]. Among numerous honors, Powell was one of the two recipients of the first Dantzig Prize [8] from the Mathematical Programming Society (MOS) and Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM). This is considered the highest award in optimization. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_J._D._Powell [2] https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rs
Read the rest
bm.201... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasi-Newton_method [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust_region [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_Lagrangian_method [6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequential_quadratic_programmi... [7] https://www.cambridge.org/highereducation/books/approximatio... [8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dantzig_Prize
In MJD Powell FRS in "Oral History of SIAM" [pdf]
zaikunzhang·Mar 7, 2024
1. nagfor Release 7.1(Hanzomon) Build 7149 released on March 5, 2024, fixed all the bugs spotted, but introduced an ICE when compiling PRIMA ( http://www.libprima.net ). The ICE has nothing to do with half-precision real, because it occurs when PRIMA is configured to use single or double precision. It can be reproduced by ``` git clone https://github.com/libprima/prima.git && cd prima && git checkout ec42cb0 && cd fortran/examples/lincoa && make ntest ``` 2. nagfor 7.2 released on 6 March, 2024 included neither the ICE nor the fixes for the bugs.
In Nagfor supports half-precision floating-point numbers

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