Finding exact solutions to many combinatorial optimization problems in busi ness, engineering, and science still poses a real challenge, despite the impact of recent advances in mathematical programming and computer technology. New fields of applications, such as computational biology, electronic commerce, and supply chain management, bring new challenges and needs for algorithms and optimization techniques. Metaheuristics are master procedures that guide and modify the operations of subordinate heuristics, to produce improved approx imate solutions to hard optimization problems with respect...

Finding exact solutions to many combinatorial optimization problems in busi- ness, engineering, and science still poses a real challenge, despite the impact of recent advances in mathematical programming and computer technology. New fields of applications, such as computational biology, electronic commerce, and supply chain management, bring new challenges and needs for algorithms and optimization techniques. Metaheuristics are master procedures that guide and modify the operations of subordinate heuristics, to produce improved approx- imate solutions to hard optimization problems with...

GRASP (Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedures) is a metaheuristic applied to real-world combinatorial optimization problems. This book introduces GRASP and combinatorial optimization, greedy algorithms, local search and path-relinking, with a focus on algorithmic and computational aspects. It includes a substantial bibliography.