Algorithm Initialization: Categories and Assessment

This chapter dedicates the essential principle and improvement options for metaheuristic algorithms during the initialization of the optimization search. All metaheuristic algorithms must follow the initialization procedure before the primary optimization search process, as highlighted in Fig. 1.2. As also understood among algorithm developers and researchers, good tradeoffs between exploration and exploitation mechanisms are fundamental in metaheuristic algorithms to ensure a good optimization process concerning solution quality and faster convergence. The initialization phase is one of the main factors contributing to a better exploration–exploitation balancing mechanism. This chapter discusses the initialization phase of metaheuristic algorithms and development options proposed in numerous pieces of literature to improve the algorithm later in the optimization search. The outline of this chapter is summarized in Fig. 1.1.