Genetic Algorithms + Data Structures =: Evolution Programs

Genetic algorithms are founded upon the principle of evolution, i.e., survival of the fittest. Hence evolution programming techniques, based on genetic algorithms, are applicable to many hard optimization problems, such as optimization of functions with linear and nonlinear constraints, the traveling salesman problem, and problems of scheduling, partitioning, and control. The importance of these techniques has been growing in the last decade, since evolution programs are parallel in nature, and parallelism is one of the most promising directions in computer science. The book is self-contained and the only prerequisite is basic undergraduate mathematics. It is aimed at researchers, practitioners, and graduate students in computer science and artificial intelligence, operations research, and engineering. This second edition includes several new sections and many references to recent developments. A simple example of genetic code and an index are also added. Writing an evolution program for a given problem should be an enjoyable experience - this book may serve as a guide to this task. Front Matter....Pages I-XVI Introduction....Pages 1-10 Front Matter....Pages 11-11 GAs: What Are They?....Pages 13-30 GAs: How Do They Work?....Pages 31-42 GAs: Why Do They Work?....Pages 43-53 GAs: Selected Topics....Pages 55-91 Front Matter....Pages 93-93 Binary or Float?....Pages 95-104 Fine Local Tuning....Pages 105-118 Handling Constraints....Pages 119-166 Evolution Strategies and Other Methods....Pages 167-184 Front Matter....Pages 185-185 The Transportation Problem....Pages 187-209 The Traveling Salesman Problem....Pages 211-237 Drawing Graphs, Scheduling, Partitioning, and Path Planning....Pages 239-269 Machine Learning....Pages 271-285 Conclusions....Pages 287-308 Back Matter....Pages 309-340 Evolution programming techniques, using genetic algorithms, are applicable to many hard optimization problems. This introduction to these techniques has been revised to include several new sections and references to many recent developments.