The parameter-less genetic algorithm in practice

The parameter-less genetic algorithm was introduced a couple of years ago as a way to simplify genetic algorithm operation by incorporating knowledge of parameter selection and population sizing theory in the genetic algorithm itself. This paper shows how that technique can be used in practice by applying it to a network expansion problem. The existence of the parameter-less genetic algorithm stresses the fact that some problems need more processing power than others. Such observation leads to the development of a problem difficulty measure which is also introduced in this paper. The measure can be useful for comparing the difficulty of real-world problems. 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.