Editing Metaheuristic (section)

==Properties==

These are properties that characterize most metaheuristics:<ref name="blum03metaheuristics" />

* Metaheuristics are strategies that guide the search process.
* The goal is to efficiently explore the search space in order to find optimal or near–optimal solutions.
* Techniques which constitute metaheuristic algorithms range from [[Local search (optimization)|simple local search]] procedures to complex learning processes.
* Metaheuristic algorithms are approximate and usually non-deterministic.
* Metaheuristics are not problem-specific. However, they were often developed in relation to a problem class such as continuous<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schwefel |first=Hans-Paul |title=Evolution and optimum seeking |date=1995 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-0-471-57148-3 |series=Sixth-generation computer technology series |location=New York}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last1=Eberhart |first1=R. |last2=Kennedy |first2=J. |title=A new optimizer using particle swarm theory |date=1995 |url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/494215 |work=Conf. Proc. MHS'95 |pages=39–43 |place= |publisher=IEEE |doi=10.1109/MHS.1995.494215 |isbn=978-0-7803-2676-7 }}</ref> or combinatorial optimization<ref>{{Citation |last1=Colorni |first1=Alberto |last2=Dorigo |first2=Marco |last3=Maniezzo |first3=Vittorio |title=Distributed Optimization by Ant Colonies |date=1991 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/216300484 |work=Conf. Proc. of ECAL91 - European Conference on Artificial Life |pages=134–142 |place=Amsterdam |publisher=Elsevier Publ. |doi= |isbn=9780262720199 |editor-last1=Varela |editor-first1=F. |editor2-last=Bourgine |editor2-first=P.}}</ref> and then generalized later in some cases.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Socha |first1=Krzysztof |last2=Dorigo |first2=Marco |date=2008 |title=Ant colony optimization for continuous domains |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0377221706006333 |journal=European Journal of Operational Research |language=en |volume=185 |issue=3 |pages=1155–1173 |doi=10.1016/j.ejor.2006.06.046}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last1=Nissen |first1=Volker |title=Constrained Combinatorial Optimization with an Evolution Strategy |date=1994 |work=Fuzzy Logik |pages=33–40 |editor-last=Reusch |editor-first=Bernd |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-642-79386-8_5 |access-date=2024-08-24 |place=Berlin, Heidelberg |publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg |doi=10.1007/978-3-642-79386-8_5 |isbn=978-3-540-58649-4 |last2=Krause |first2=Matthias}}</ref>
* They can draw on domain-specific knowledge in the form of heuristics that are controlled by a higher-level strategy of the metaheuristic.
* They can contain mechanisms that prevent them from getting stuck in certain areas of the search space.
* Modern metaheuristics often use the search history to control the search.