ABSTRACT

Since, according to the no-free-lunch (NFL) theorem (Wolpert and Macready 1996), there cannot exist any algorithm for solving all (e.g. optimization) problems that is generally (on average) superior to any competitor, the question of whether evolutionary algorithms (EAs) are inferior/superior to any alternative approach is senseless. What could be claimed solely is that EAs behave better than other methods with respect to solving a specific class of problems-with the consequence that they behave worse for other problem classes.