Editing Local search (optimization) (section)

== Examples ==
Some problems where local search has been applied are:

# The [[vertex cover problem]], in which a solution is a [[vertex cover]] of a [[Graph (discrete mathematics)|graph]], and the target is to find a solution with a minimal number of nodes
# The [[traveling salesman problem]], in which a solution is a [[Cycle (graph theory)|cycle]] containing all nodes of the graph and the target is to minimize the total length of the cycle
# The [[Boolean satisfiability problem]], in which a candidate solution is a truth assignment, and the target is to maximize the number of [[Clause (logic)|clauses]] satisfied by the assignment; in this case, the final solution is of use only if it satisfies ''all'' clauses
# The [[nurse scheduling problem]] where a solution is an assignment of nurses to [[Shift work|shifts]] which satisfies all established [[Constraint satisfaction|constraints]]
# The [[k-medoid]] clustering problem and other related [[Optimal facility location|facility location]] problems for which local search offers the best known approximation ratios from a worst-case perspective
# The Hopfield Neural Networks problem involves finding stable configurations in [[Hopfield network]].