Meta-heuristics development framework: Design and applications

Abstract

While meta-heuristics are effective in solving large-scale optimization problems, they result from an extensively manual trial-and-error algorithmic design tailored to specific problems. This ineffective process has called for a rapid prototyping tool for fast algorithm development. The Meta-Heuristics Development Framework (MDF) is proposed to reduce development time through abstract classes and code reuse, and more importantly, aids design through the support of user-defined strategies and hybridization. More interestingly, we illustrate a novel approach of redefining hybridization using the a??request-and-responsea?? metaphor, which form an abstract concept for hybridization. This concept is demonstrated through applications, which include Traveling Salesman Problem, Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows and Inventory and Routing Problem with Time Windows.