ABSTRACT
Many applications can be modeled reasonably well and usually solved optimally by one of the well-known optimization techniques such as linear programming, integer programming, dynamic programming, and network-based methods, among others. These techniques are widely discussed and explained in most OR/MS texbooks. However, in some situations the combinatorial effect of problems can make the use of these techniques less applicable and the optimal solution intractable. To overcome such potential shortcomings, heuristic methods were devised to provide the user with some reasonable solutions. Although these methods do not guarantee optimality, in some situations they seem to be the only way forward to produce concrete results. To date, heuristic search methods have demonstrated widespread use in business, economic, and industrial problems that were found hard to solve in the past.
