Genetic algorithm in search and optimization: the technique and applications
Kalyanmoy Deb · 1998
A genetic algorithm (GA) is a search and optimization method developed by mimicking the evolutionary principles and chromosomal processing in natural genetics. A GA begins its search with a random set of solutions usually coded in binary string structures. Every solution is assigned a fitness which is directly related to the objective function of the search and optimization problem. Thereafter, the population of solutions is modified to a new population by applying three operators similar to natural genetic operators---reproduction, crossover, and mutation. A GA works iteratively by successively applying these three operators in each generation till a termination criterion is satisfied. Over the past one decade, GAs have been successfully applied to a wide variety of problems, because of their simplicity, global perspective, and inherent parallel processing. In this paper, we outline the working principle of a GA by describing these three operators and by outlining an intuitive sketch ...