ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to look into as many types of timetable problems as possible and build a general model capable of representing each of them. Most people are familiar with the school timetable which can be presented as a table of days of the week and time slots. The genetic algorithm works on the same principal as natural evolution. A genetic algorithm is capable of searching through a complex search space. Genetic algorithms or evolutionary computing is based upon biological genetics and natural evolution. The evaluation function calculates a punishment value for each chromosome. Good chromosomes have low punishment values. A value of zero indicates the chromosome meets all the criteria described in the evaluation function. The evaluation function is made up from many different evaluations which all produce a punishment value which accumulates to give the final punishment.
