Newsgroups: comp.ai.genetic
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From: "M. Munir -ul M. Chowdhury" <chy@rank-serv.elec.gla.ac.uk>
Subject: RE: FAQ: comp.ai.genetic part 1/6 (A Guide to Frequently Asked Questions)
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In message Tue, 20 Dec 94 14:50:02 GMT,
  David.Beasley@cm.cf.ac.uk (David Beasley)  writes:

> Archive-name:   ai-faq/genetic/part1
> Last-Modified:  12/20/94
> Issue:          2.4
>
> The
>
> Hitch-Hiker's
>
>
> Guide to
>
> Evolutionary Computation
>
> (FAQ in comp.ai.genetic)
>
> edited by
>
> Joerg Heitkoetter
> c/o EUnet Deutschland GmbH,
> Techo-Park, Emil-Figge-Str. 80,
> D-44227 Dortmund, Germany
> <joke@Germany.EU.net>
> or <joke@alife.santafe.edu>
>
> and
>
> David Beasley
> c/o Department of Computing Mathematics
> University of Wales, College of Cardiff
> Cardiff, United Kingdom
> <david.beasley@cm.cf.ac.uk>
>
>
> PLEASE:
> Search this posting first if you have a question
> and
> If someone else asks a question which is answered in here
> DON'T POST THE ANSWER TO THE NEWSGROUP:
> POINT THE ASKER TO THE FAQ
>
> and finally
>
>
> DON'T PANIC!
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> FAQ  /F-A-Q/  or  /fak/  [USENET] n.  1. A Frequently Asked Question.
> 2. A compendium of  accumulated  lore,  posted  periodically  to
> high-volume   newsgroups   in   an  attempt  to  forestall  such
> questions.  Some people prefer the term  `FAQ  list'  or  `FAQL'
> /fa'kl/, reserving `FAQ' for sense 1.
>
> RTFAQ
> /R-T-F-A-Q/  [USENET:  primarily  written, by analogy with RTFM]
> imp. Abbrev. for `Read the FAQ!', an exhortation that the person
> addressed  ought to read the newsgroup's FAQ list before posting
> questions.
>
> RTFM /R-T-F-M/ [UNIX] imp. Acronym for `Read The Fucking Manual'.  1.
> Used  by  gurus  to brush off questions they consider trivial or
> annoying.  Compare Don't do that, then!  2. Used when  reporting
> a  problem  to  indicate  that  you  aren't  just  asking out of
> randomness.  "No, I can't figure out how to interface UNIX to my
> toaster,  and  yes,  I  have RTFM."  Unlike sense 1, this use is
> considered polite. ...
> --- "The on-line hacker Jargon File, version 3.0, 29 July
> 1993",      available via anon. ftp to ftp.gnu.ai.mit.edu as
> "/pub/gnu/jarg300.txt.gz"
>
> PREFACE
> This posting is intended to  help,  provide  basic  information,  and
> serve  as  a  first  straw  for individuals, i.e.  uninitiated hitch-
> hikers, who are stranded in the mindboggling universe of Evolutionary
> Computation  (EC);  that  in turn is only a small footpath to an even
> more mindboggling  scientific  universe,  that,  incorporating  Fuzzy
> Systems,  and Artificial Neural Networks, is sometimes referred to as
> Computational Intelligence (CI); that in turn is only part of an even
> more  advanced scientific universe of mindparalysing complexity, that
> incorporating Artificial Life, Fractal Geometry,  and  other  Complex
> Systems  Sciences might someday be referred to as Natural Computation
> (NC).
>
> Over the course of the past  years,  GLOBAL  OPTIMIZATION  algorithms
> imitating  certain  principles of nature have proved their usefulness
> in various domains of  applications.  Especially  worth  copying  are
> those  principles  where  nature  has  found  "stable  islands"  in a
> "turbulent ocean" of solution possibilities. Such  phenomena  can  be
> found  in annealing processes, central nervous systems and biological
> EVOLUTION, which in turn have  lead  to  the  following  OPTIMIZATION
> methods:  Simulated Annealing (SA), Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs)
> and the field of Evolutionary Computation (EC).
>
> EC may currently be characterized by the following pathways:  Genetic
> Algorithms  (GA), Evolutionary Programming (EP), Evolution Strategies
> (ES), Classifier Systems (CFS), Genetic Programming (GP), and several
> other  problem  solving  strategies,  that  are based upon biological
> observations, that date back to Charles Darwin's discoveries  in  the
> 19th  century: the means of natural selection and the survival of the
> fittest, i.e. the "theory of evolution." The inspired algorithms  are
> thus termed Evolutionary Algorithms (EA).
>
> Moreover,  this  posting  is  intended  to  help  those  who are just
> beginning to read this newsgroup, and those who are new "on"  USENET.
> It  shall help to avoid lengthy discussions of questions that usually
> arise for beginners of one or the other kind, and which are boring to
> read again and again by comp.ai.genetic "old-timers."
>
> You  will  see  this  posting  popping  up periodically in the USENET
> newsgroup comp.ai.genetic (and also comp.answers,  and  news.answers,
> where it should be locatable at any time).
>
>
> CONTRIBUTIONS
> Contributions, additions, corrections, cash, etc. are always welcome.
> Send e-mail to the address above.
>
>
> DISCLAIMER
> This periodic posting is not meant to discuss any topic exhaustively,
> but  should  be  thought of as a list of reference pointers, instead.
> This posting is provided on an "as is" basis, NO WARRANTY  whatsoever
> is expressed or implied, especially, NO WARRANTY that the information
> contained herein  is  up-to-date,  correct  or  useful  in  any  way,
> although all this is intended.
> Moreover,  please  note  that  the  opinions  expressed herein do not
> necessarily reflect those of the editors' institutions or  employers,
> neither  as  a  whole, nor in part. They are just the amalgamation of
> the editors' collections of ideas,  and  contributions  gleaned  from
> other sources.
>
> NOTE:  some  portions of this otherwise rather dry guide are intended
> to be satirical.  If you do not recognize it as  such,  consult  your
> local doctor or a professional comedian.
>
>
> HITCH-HIKING THE FAQNIVERSE
> This  guide  is  big.  Really big. You just won't believe how hugely,
> vastly, mindbogglingly big it is. That's why it has been split into a
> "trilogy" -- which, like all successful trilogies, eventually ends up
> consisting of more than three parts.
>
>
> Searching for answers
> To find the answer of question number x, just search for  the  string
> "Qx:". (So the answer to question 42 is at "Q42:"!)
>
> What does, e.g. [ICGA85] mean?
> Some  books are referenced again and again, that's why they have this
> kind of "tag", that an experienced hitch-hiker will search for in the
> list  of  books  (see Q10: and Q12: and other places) to dissolve the
> riddle. Here, they have a ":" appended, thus you can search  for  the
> string "[ICGA85]:" for example.
>
> Why all this UPPERCASING in running text?
> Words  written  in  all  uppercase  letters  are  cross-references to
> entries in the Glossary (see Q99). Again, they have a  ":"  appended,
> thus  if  you  find,  say  EVOLUTION,  you  can search for the string
> "EVOLUTION:" in the Glossary.
>
> FTP and HTTP naming conventions
> A file available on an FTP server will be  specified  as:  <ftp-site-
> name>:<the-complete-filename>  So for example, the file bar.tar.gz in
> the directory /pub/foo on the ftp server  ftp.certain.site  would  be
> specified as: ftp.certain.site:/pub/foo/bar.tar.gz
>
> A  specification  ending  with  a  "/"  is  a  reference  to  a whole
> directory, e.g.  ftp.certain.site:/pub/foo/
>
> HTTP files are specified in a  similar  way,  but  with  the  prefix:
> http://
>
> Referencing this Guide
> If you want to reference this guide it should look like:
>
> Heitkoetter,  Joerg  and  Beasley,  David,  eds.   (1994) "The Hitch-
> Hiker's Guide to Evolutionary Computation: A list of Frequently Asked
> Questions  (FAQ)", USENET : comp.ai.genetic.  Available via anonymous
> FTP from rtfm.mit.edu:/pub/usenet/news.answers/ai-faq/genetic/  About
> 90 pages.
>
> Or simply call it "the Guide", or "HHGTEC" for acronymaniacs.
>
> Obtaining copies of this guide
> This      FAQ      is      available      between     postings     on
> rtfm.mit.edu:/pub/usenet/news.answers/ai-faq/genetic/ as  the  files:
> part1  to  part6. The FAQ may also be retrieved by e-mail from <mail-
> server@rtfm.mit.edu>. Send a message to the mail-server  with  "help"
> and "index" in the body on separate lines for more information.
>
> A  PostScript  version  is  also  available.  This looks really crisp
> (using boldface, italics, etc.),  and  is  available  for  those  who
> prefer  offline  reading.   Get  it  from  ENCORE (See Q15.3) in file
> FAQ/hhgtec.ps.gz (the ASCII text versions are in the  same  directory
> too).   In  Germany,  its  also  available  from  the SyS ftp-server:
> lumpi.informatik.uni-dortmund.de:/pub/EA/docs/hhgtec.ps.gz
>
> "As a net is made up of a series of ties, so everything in
> this world is connected by a series of ties.  If anyone thinks
> that the mesh of a net is an independent, isolated thing, he is
> mistaken.  It is called a net because it is made up of a series
> of interconnected meshes, and each mesh has its place and
> responsibility in relation to other meshes."
>
> --- Buddha
>
> The ZEN Puzzle
> For some weird reason this guide contains some puzzles which can only
> be  solved  by  cautious  readers  who have (1) a certain amount of a
> certain kind of humor, (2) a certain amount of patience and time, (3)
> a  certain  amount of experience in ZEN NAVIGATION, and (4) a certain
> amount of books of a certain author.
>
> Usually, puzzles search either for certain answers (more  often,  ONE
> answer)  to  a  question;  or,  for the real smartasses, sometimes an
> answer is presented, and a certain question  is  searched  for.   ZEN
> puzzles are even more challenging: you have to come up with an answer
> to a question, both of which are not  explicitly,  rather  implicitly
> stated  somewhere  in  this  FAQ.   Thus, you are expected to give an
> answer AND a question!
>
> To give an impression what this is all about, consider the following,
> submitted  by  Craig  W.  Reynolds.  The correct question is: "Why is
> Fisher's `improbability quote' (cf EPILOGUE) included in this  FAQ?",
> Craig's correct answer is: `This is a GREAT quotation, it sounds like
> something directly out of  a  turn  of  the  century  Douglas  Adams:
> Natural  SELECTION:  the original "Infinite Improbability Drive"' Got
> the message? Well, this was easy and very obvious. The other  puzzles
> are more challenging...
>
> However,  all  this is just for fun (mine and hopefully yours), there
> is nothing like the $100 price, some big shots in  computer  science,
> e.g.   Don  Knuth  usually  offer;  all  there  is  but  a  honorable
> mentioning of the ZEN navigator, including the  puzzle  s/he  solved.
> It's  thus  like  in  real life: don't expect to make money from your
> time being a scientist, it's all just for the fun of it...
>
> Enjoy the trip!
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> TABLE OF CONTENTS
> Part1
>
> Q0: How about an introduction to all this?
> Q0.1: What is comp.ai.genetic all about?
> Q0.2: How do I get started? What about USENET documentation?
>
> Part2
>
> Q1: What are Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs)?
> Q1.1: What's a Genetic Algorithm (GA)?
> Q1.2: What's Evolutionary Programming (EP)?
> Q1.3: What's an Evolution Strategy (ES)?
> Q1.4: What's a Classifier System (CFS)?
> Q1.5: What's Genetic Programming (GP)?
>
> Part3
>
> Q2: What applications of EAs are there?
> Q3: Who is concerned with EAs?
>
> Q4: How many EAs exist? Which?
> Q4.1: What about Alife systems, like Tierra and VENUS?
>
> Q5: What about all this Optimization stuff?
>
> Part4
>
> Q10: What introductory material on EAs is there?
> Q10.1: Suitable background reading for beginners?
> Q10.2: Textbooks on EC?
> Q10.3: The Classics?
> Q10.4: Introductory Journal Articles?
> Q10.5: Introductory Technical Reports?
> Q10.6: Not-quite-so-introductory Literature?
> Q10.7: Biological Background Readings?
> Q10.8: On-line bibliography collections?
> Q10.9: Videos?
> Q10.10: CD-ROMs?
> Q10.11: How do I get a copy of a dissertation?
>
> Q11: What EC related journals and magazines are there?
>
> Q12: What are the important conferences/proceedings on EC?
>
> Q13: What Evolutionary Computation Associations exist?
>
> Q14: What Technical Reports are available?
>
> Q15: What information is available over the net?
> Q15.1: What digests are there?
> Q15.2: What mailing lists are there?
> Q15.3: What online information repositories are there?
> Q15.4: What relevant newsgroups and FAQs are there?
> Q15.5: What about all these Internet Services?
>
> Part5
>
> Q20: What EA software packages are available?
> Q20.1: Free software packages?
> Q20.2: Commercial software packages?
> Q20.3: Current research projects?
>
> Part6
>
> Q21: What are Gray codes, and why are they used?
>
> Q22: What test data is available?
>
> Q42: What is Life all about?
> Q42b: Is there a FAQ to this group?
>
> Q98: Are there any patents on EAs?
>
> Q99: A Glossary on EAs?
>
>
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Subject: Q0: How about an introduction to all this?
>
> Certainly. See Q0.1 and Q0.2 below.
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Subject: Q0.1: What is comp.ai.genetic all about?
>
> The newsgroup comp.ai.genetic is intended as a forum for  people  who
> want  to  use or explore the capabilities of Genetic Algorithms (GA),
> Evolutionary Programming (EP), Evolution Strategies (ES),  Classifier
> Systems  (CFS),  Genetic Programming (GP), and some other, less well-
> known problem solving  algorithms  that  are  more  or  less  loosely
> coupled to the field of Evolutionary Computation (EC).
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Subject: Q0.2: How do I get started? What about USENET documentation?
>
> The  following guidelines present the essentials of the USENET online
> documentation, that is posted each month to news.announce.newusers.
>
> If you are already familiar with "netiquette" you can skip to the end
> of  this  answer;  if you don't know what the hell this is all about,
> proceed as follows: (1) carefully read the following paragraphs,  (2)
> read  all  the documents in news.announce.newusers before posting any
> article to USENET.  At least you should give the introductory stuff a
> try,  i.e.  files "news-answers/introduction" and "news-answers/news-
> newusers-intro". Both are survey articles, that provide a  short  and
> easy  way  to  get an overview of the interesting parts of the online
> docs, and thus can help to prevent you from drowning in the megabytes
> to  read. Both can be received either by subscribing to news.answers,
> or sending the following message to <mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu>:
>
> send usenet/news.answers/introduction
> send usenet/news.answers/news-newusers-intro
> quit
>
> Netiquette
>
> "Usenet is a convention, in every sense of the word."
>
> Although USENET is usually characterized as "an anarchy, with no laws
> and  no  one  in  charge" there have "emerged" several rules over the
> past years that shall facilitate life within  newsgroups.  Thus,  you
> will probably find the following types of articles:
>
> 1. Requests
> Requests  are  articles  of  the form "I am looking for X" where X is
> something public like a book, an article, a piece of software.
>
> If multiple different answers can be expected, the person making  the
> request  should  prepare  to make a summary of the answers he/she got
> and announce to do  so  with  a  phrase  like  "Please  e-mail,  I'll
> summarize" at the end of the posting.
>
> The  Subject  line  of  the  posting  should  then  be something like
> "Request: X"
>
> 2. Questions
> As opposed to requests, questions are  concerned  with  something  so
> specific  that  general  interest  cannot readily be assumed.  If the
> poster thinks that the topic is  of  some  general  interest,  he/she
> should announce a summary (see above).
>
> The  Subject  line of the posting should be something like "Question:
> this-and-that" (Q: this-and-that) or have  the  form  of  a  question
> (i.e., end with a question mark)
>
>
> 3. Answers
> These  are  reactions  to  questions or requests.  As a rule of thumb
> articles of type "answer" should be rare.   Ideally,  in  most  cases
> either  the  answer  is  too  specific to be of general interest (and
> should thus be e-mailed to the poster) or  a  summary  was  announced
> with  the question or request (and answers should thus be e-mailed to
> the poster).
>
> The subject lines of answers are automatically adjusted by  the  news
> software.
>
> 4. Summaries
> In  all  cases  of requests or questions the answers for which can be
> assumed to be of some general interest, the poster of the request  or
> question shall summarize the answers he/she received.  Such a summary
> should be announced in  the  original  posting  of  the  question  or
> request with a phrase like "Please answer by e-mail, I'll summarize"
>
> In  such  a  case  answers  should NOT be posted to the newsgroup but
> instead be mailed to the poster who collects and reviews them.  After
> about 10 to 20 days from the original posting, its poster should make
> the summary of answers and post it to the net.
>
> Some care should be invested into a summary:
>
> a) simple concatenation of all  the  answers  might  not  be  enough;
> instead  redundancies, irrelevances, verbosities and errors should
> be filtered out (as good as possible),
>
> b) the answers shall be separated clearly
>
> c) the contributors of the individual answers shall  be  identifiable
> unless  they  requested  to  remain anonymous [eds note: yes, that
> happens])
>
> d) the summary shall start with the "quintessence" of the answers, as
> seen by the original poster
>
> e) A  summary  should, when posted, clearly be indicated to be one by
> giving it a Subject line starting with "Summary:"
>
> Note that a good summary is pure gold for the rest of  the  newsgroup
> community,  so  summary  work  will be most appreciated by all of us.
> (Good summaries are more valuable than any moderator!)
>
> 5. Announcements
> Some articles never need  any  public  reaction.   These  are  called
> announcements  (for  instance  for  a  workshop,  conference  or  the
> availability of some technical report or software system).
>
> Announcements should be clearly indicated to be such by giving them a
> subject  line  of the form "Announcement: this-and-that", or "ust "A:
> this-and-that".
>
> Due to common practice,  conference  announcements  usually  carry  a
> "CFP:"  in  their subject line, i.e. "call for papers" (or: "call for
> participation").
>
>
> 6. Reports
> Sometimes people  spontaneously  want  to  report  something  to  the
> newsgroup.  This  might  be  special  experiences with some software,
> results  of  own  experiments  or  conceptual  work,  or   especially
> interesting information from somewhere else.
>
> Reports  should  be  clearly  indicated  to  be such by giving them a
> subject line of the form "Report: this-and-that"
>
> 7. Discussions
> An especially valuable possibility of USENET is  of  course  that  of
> discussing  a  certain topic with hundreds of potential participants.
> All traffic in the newsgroup that can not be subsumed  under  one  of
> the above categories should belong to a discussion.
>
> If  somebody explicitly wants to start a discussion, he/she can do so
> by giving the posting a subject line of the form  "Start  discussion:
> this-and-that"  (People  who  react on this, please remove the "Start
> discussion: " label from the subject line of your replies)
>
> It is quite difficult to keep a discussion from drifting into  chaos,
> but,  unfortunately,  as many other newsgroups show there seems to be
> no secure way to avoid this.  On the other hand, comp.ai.genetic  has
> not  had  many  problems  with this effect, yet, so let's just go and
> hope...
>
> Thanks in advance for your patience!
>
> The Internet
> For information on internet services, see Q15.5.
>
> ------------------------------
>
> End of ai-faq/genetic/part1
> ***************************
>
