Install fastga with Homebrew

Project links

• Homepage
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• ALNchain
• ALNplot
• ALNreset
• ALNshow
• ALNtoPAF
• ALNtoPSL
• ANOshow
• ANOstat
• ANOtoBED
• BEDtoANO
• FAtoGDB
• FastGA
• FastKS
• GDBshow
• GDBstat
• GDBtoFA
• GIXcp
• GIXmake
• GIXmv
• GIXrm
• GIXshow
• ONEalnTEST
• ONEview
• PAFtoALN
• PAFtoPSL

Project history

The FASTGA README identifies the authors, gives May 10, 2023 as the first date, and describes the tool as a fast genome aligner for high-quality, nearly complete genomes. Its design builds on adaptive seed finding and the wave-based local alignment approach associated with Myers' earlier DALIGNER work.

The package is more than one binary. It includes conversion, indexing, viewing, plotting, annotation, and file-management utilities around genome databases, genome indexes, ONEcode alignment files, PAF, PSL, BED, and ANO files.

The README's version notes show active development through 2025, including soft masking, log-file support for HPC cluster use, improved GIXmake memory behavior, faster conversion utilities, a ONEaln C library, and ANO annotation-file support.

Adoption history

FASTGA is niche scientific software rather than a general developer tool, but its official README includes Bioconda and Anaconda badges and Homebrew packages it as a formula. That places it in the practical bioinformatics packaging ecosystem where command-line tools are installed into reproducible analysis environments.

Its adoption case is strongest for users who already understand genome alignment workflows and want a performant aligner with reusable intermediate genome databases and indexes. The README emphasizes comparing large genomes quickly, keeping compact binary alignment outputs, and converting to common exchange formats when needed.

How it is used

Basic usage can be as simple as `FastGA A B` for two FASTA or ONEcode sequence inputs, streaming PAF output by default. The tool can also compare a genome against itself, keep persistent GDB and GIX intermediates, output PSL or binary ONEcode ALN files, and convert results with helper tools such as ALNtoPAF and ALNtoPSL.

FASTGA's workflow creates or reuses genome databases and genome indexes, then records alignments in a compact `.1aln` representation. Users handling repeated comparisons can prebuild GDB and GIX files to avoid repeated conversion and indexing costs.

Why package nerds care

FASTGA is package-nerd interesting because bioinformatics packages often ship a constellation of small command-line utilities rather than one executable. The Homebrew formula exposes a whole toolkit for converting, indexing, aligning, inspecting, plotting, and translating genome alignment data.

Its significance is also in file formats: GDB, GIX, `.1aln`, ONEcode, PAF, PSL, BED, and ANO support make it useful in pipelines where compact intermediate storage and standards-adjacent interchange formats both matter.

Timeline

• 2023: The README records May 10, 2023 as the first date for FASTGA.
• 2025: Version 1.3 added soft masking and log-file support.
• 2025: Version 1.4 added the ONEaln C library.
• 2025: Version 1.5 added ONEcode ANO-file support.

Related projects

• DALIGNER is cited by FASTGA as an earlier Myers aligner whose wave-based local aligner influenced FASTGA.
• ONEcode is used for FASTGA's genome database and alignment encodings.
• PAF and PSL are common output formats FASTGA can emit or convert to.

Sources

• https://github.com/thegenemyers/FASTGA
• https://github.com/thegenemyers/FASTGA#readme
• https://github.com/thegenemyers/DALIGNER
• https://github.com/thegenemyers/ONEcode