Bristol Meetups

Simply the Best: Optimizing with an Evolutionary Computing Framework

I'm pleased to announce that Chris Simmons will be kicking us off with a practical workshop in using evolutionary algorithms in Java. So do come along and join us, for an evening of fun, learning and drinks afterwards.

PLEASE NOTE!! This will be a practical workshop so please do bring a laptop. The Wifi password will be provided at the time.

Synopsis

There will be much programming with Java! Things begin with a brief introduction on evolutionary algorithms and the many freely available frameworks for optimization with evolutionary computing. Next, taking the open source Java Class Library for Evolutionary Computing (JCLEC) (http://jclec.sourceforge.net), folks are encouraged to program with the framework to address three optimization challenges such as:

(i) ‘OneMax’, a ‘hello world’-type example for evolutionary algorithms,

(ii) ‘how to program you way out of a paper bag’, and
(iii) ‘travelling salesman problem’ (or TSP). TSP is like a kata for Machine Learning. TSP-type problems tend to crop up quite a lot…

Participants are strongly encouraged to download and install the JCLEC framework before attending this programming workshop, and bring their own laptop with a Java development environment installed.

Acknowledgement: This workshop has been jointly developed with Frances Buontempo.