Open AccessGenetic algorithms: An overview
Author(s) -
Mitchell Melanie
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
complexity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.447
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1099-0526
pISSN - 1076-2787
DOI - 10.1002/cplx.6130010108
Subject(s) - citation , library science , computer science , information retrieval , algorithm , operations research , mathematics
Genetic algorithms (GAs) are computer programs that mimic the processes of biological evolution in order to solve problems and to model evolutionary systems. In this paper I describe the appeal of using ideas from evolution to solve computational problems, give the elements of simple GAs, survey some application areas of GAs, and give a detailed example of how a GA was used on one particularly interesting problem—automatically discovering good strategies for playing the Prisoner’s Dilemma. The paper concludes with a short introduction to the theory of GAs.