According to Sean Luke metaheuristics is a “common but unfortunate name for any stochastic optimization algorithm intended to be the last resort before giving up and using random or brute-force search. Such algorithms are used for problems where you don’t know how to find a good solution, but if shown a candidate solution, you can give it a grade. ” .
Essentials of Metaheuristics is an easy to understand book that features lecture notes about metaheuristic algorithms. Written by Sean Luke, the book is available as a free PDF download and intended for helping out undergraduate students gain a better insight about the subject.
Sean Luke is an Associate Professor for the Department of Computer Science at George Mason University in Virginia. He wrote the book specifically for students, non-professionals, practitioners and non-experts. The book actually consists of lecture notes, so don’t expect anything too heavy. They are meant as a guide to helping people interested in the subject to gain further insight.
Much of the content is kept light and simple examples are provided so that they can be easily understood. Best of all, the chapters can be printed and tackled separately depending on the reader’s needs. This makes it so much easier to study and learn from the material.
Even though the average Joe might not fully understand or even care about Metaheuristics, this is definitely one book that’s helpful for those who are into the subject. Physical copies of the book are available at Lulu.com and Amazon.com. Â However, you can get the free PDF version as well by clicking the download link.
Related Links:
Sean Luke Official Website
Essentials of Metaheuristics on Medal Blogging
Essentials of Metaheuristics on Good Reads
Essentials of Metaheuristics on Free Tech Books
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