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Genetic Algorithms - Fundamentals

Genetic algorithm

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SHRUTI MISHRA
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3 views

Genetic Algorithms - Fundamentals

Genetic algorithm

Uploaded by

SHRUTI MISHRA
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Genetic Algorithms - Fundamentals


This section introduces the basic terminology required to understand GAs. Also, a generic structure of
GAs is presented in both pseudo-code and graphical forms. The reader is advised to properly
understand all the concepts introduced in this section and keep them in mind when reading other
sections of this tutorial as well.

Basic Terminology
Before beginning a discussion on Genetic Algorithms, it is essential to be familiar with some basic
terminology which will be used throughout this tutorial.

Population − It is a subset of all the possible (encoded) solutions to the given problem. The
population for a GA is analogous to the population for human beings except that instead of
human beings, we have Candidate Solutions representing human beings.

Chromosomes − A chromosome is one such solution to the given problem.

Gene − A gene is one element position of a chromosome.

Allele − It is the value a gene takes for a particular chromosome.

Genotype − Genotype is the population in the computation space. In the computation space,
the solutions are represented in a way which can be easily understood and manipulated using
a computing system.

Phenotype − Phenotype is the population in the actual real world solution space in which
solutions are represented in a way they are represented in real world situations.
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Decoding and Encoding − For simple problems, the phenotype and genotype spaces are the
same. However, in most of the cases, the phenotype and genotype spaces are different.
Decoding is a process of transforming a solution from the genotype to the phenotype space,
while encoding is a process of transforming from the phenotype to genotype space.
Decoding should be fast as it is carried out repeatedly in a GA during the fitness value
calculation.
For example, consider the 0/1 Knapsack Problem. The Phenotype space consists of solutions
which just contain the item numbers of the items to be picked.
However, in the genotype space it can be represented as a binary string of length n (where n

is the number of items). A 0 at position x represents that xth item is picked while a 1
represents the reverse. This is a case where genotype and phenotype spaces are different.

Fitness Function − A fitness function simply defined is a function which takes the solution as
input and produces the suitability of the solution as the output. In some cases, the fitness
function and the objective function may be the same, while in others it might be different
based on the problem.

Genetic Operators − These alter the genetic composition of the offspring. These include
crossover, mutation, selection, etc.

Basic Structure
The basic structure of a GA is as follows −

We start with an initial population (which may be generated at random or seeded by other heuristics),
select parents from this population for mating. Apply crossover and mutation operators on the
parents to generate new off-springs. And finally these off-springs replace the existing individuals in
the population and the process repeats. In this way genetic algorithms actually try to mimic the
human evolution to some extent.

Each of the following steps are covered as a separate chapter later in this tutorial.
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A generalized pseudo-code for a GA is explained in the following program −

GA()
initialize population
find fitness of population

while (termination criteria is reached) do


parent selection
crossover with probability pc
mutation with probability pm
decode and fitness calculation
survivor selection
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find best
return best

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