An empirical time analysis of evolutionary algorithms as C programs Articles uri icon

authors

  • NESMACHNOW, SERGIO
  • LUNA VALERO, FRANCISCO
  • ALBA, ENRIQUE

publication date

  • January 2015

start page

  • 111

end page

  • 142

issue

  • 1

volume

  • 45

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0038-0644

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1097-024X

abstract

  • This article presents an empirical study devoted to characterize the computational efficiency behavior of an evolutionary algorithm (usually called canonical) as a C program. The study analyzes the effects of several implementation decisions on the execution time of the resulting evolutionary algorithm. The implementation decisions studied include: memory utilization (using dynamic vs. static variables and local vs. global variables), methods for ordering the population, code substitution mechanisms, and the routines for generating pseudorandom numbers within the evolutionary algorithm. The results obtained in the experimental analysis allow us to conclude that significant improvements in efficiency can be gained by applying simple guidelines to best program an evolutionary algorithm in C. Copyright (C) 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

keywords

  • pseudo-boolean functions; runtime analysis; parallel; optimization; landscapes