Parameters, Parameters, Parameters

The practice of evolutionary algorithms involves a mundane yet inescapable phase, namely, finding parameters that work well. How big should the population be? How many generations should the algorithm run? What is the (tournament selection) tournament size? What probabilities should one assign to crossover and mutation? All these nagging questions need good answers if one is to embrace success. Through an extensive series of experiments over multiple evolutionary algorithm implementations and problems we show that parameter space tends to be rife with viable parameters. We aver that this renders the life of the practitioner that much easier, and cap off our study with an advisory digest for the weary.

Wanna learn more? The full paper is here.