- Written by: Thomas Weise
Optimization and Operations Research are about finding good solutions for computational hard problems. Sometimes we cannot guarantee to find the best solutions, because finding these (or the proof that they are best) may take too long. Then we look for good approximate solution to be found within reasonable time, i.e., our algorithm's performance is measured both in solution quality and required runtime (and runtime may be measured in different ways). Often we have algorithms that start with an initial (probably bad) solution and improve it over time. This is even often the case in situations where we can actually guarantee to solve the problem perfectly if we give enough time (and we may stop earlier once we run out of time, loosing the guarantee but at least having a solution). In Machine Learning and Datamining, the situation is quite similar, which is quite natural since many questions there could also be considered as special optimization tasks. In both fields, algorithms are often randomized, meaning that they may behave differently or return different results even if executed twice with the same input data.
From the above scenario, it becomes clear that it may not be easy to know which algorithm is actually the best for a given scenario. On one hand, we need to use some reasonably robust statistics. On the other hand, we may also need to clarify what "best" actually means, since we have at least two dimensions of performance (and reducing the algorithm performance to a single point measurement may lead to wrong conclusions). These are just two of the problems we face when evaluating new methods for optimization or Machine Learning. There are many more issues, such as how to compare multi-objective optimization methods (where we have more than one quality dimension) and how to compare parallel algorithms or programs running in a cloud or cluster? Or how can we compare algorithms on a problem which is noisy or in the face of uncertainties and the need for robustness?
There are many more opportunities for interesting and good research: How to visualize algorithm the results when comparing many algorithms on many problems? Can we model algorithm performance to guess how a method would perform on new problem? Can we have simple theoretical frameworks which gives us mathematically supported guidelines, limits, boundaries, or estimates for benchmarking? Or can we build automated approaches to answer high-level questions like: What features make a problem hard for a set of algorithms? Which parameters make an algorithm work the best? Are there qualitatively different classes of problems and algorithms for a certain problem type?
With our International Workshop on Benchmarking of Computational Intelligence Algorithms (BOCIA), we try to provide a platform to discuss such topics, a setup where researchers can exchange thoughts on how to compare and analyze the performance of Computational Intelligence (CI) algorithms. We generously consider all optimization, Operations Research, Machine Learning, Datamining, and Evolutionary Computation all as sub-fields of CI. This workshop will take place at the Tenth International Conference on Advanced Computational Intelligence (ICACI 2018) on March 29-31, 2018 in Xiamen, China.
If you are a researcher working on any related topic, we would be very happy if you would consider submitting a paper until December 1, 2017, via the submission page. Here you can download the Call for Papers (CfP) in PDF format.
Read more: Workshop on Benchmarking of Computational Intelligence Algorithms approved for ICACI 2018
- Written by: Thomas Weise
Yesterday, we published a new course titled "Metaheuristic Optimization". On the course website, you can find all slides and example algorithm implementations and you can download the complete course material as a single tar.xz archive (can be opened under Windows and Linux) from here. As the third completely published course of our institute, after the courses on "Object-Oriented Programming with Java" and "Distributed Computing", this marks another milestone in our strive for teaching excellence.
The new course tries to give a complete and yet in-depth overview on the topic of optimization from the perspective of metaheuristics, i.e., approximate algorithms that can find good solutions for computational hard problems within a short time. The course is designed to require little background knowledge. Many of the presented algorithms can directly be implemented during the course in Java by the instructor within a few minutes. This shows that the algorithms we discuss are not scary and can be mastered even with basic programming knowledge. It also closes the gap between research and practice – after all, we are the Institute of Applied Optimization.
In the course, we discuss a broad spectrum of different optimization methods, ranging from local search algorithms such as hill climbers, Simulated Annealing, and Tabu Search to global search methods such as Evolutionary Algorithms, Evolution Strategies, Genetic Programming, Differential Evolution, Particle Swarm Optimization, Ant Colony Optimization, and Estimation of Distribution Algorithms. We also discuss several phenomena that make problems difficult for these algorithms as well as general concepts such as multi-objective and constraint optimization as well as several example applications. All in all, this course aims to give the student the knowledge to recognize an optimization problem when she sees it, the ability to choose the right algorithm for the right problem, together with the practical experience to implement and apply said algorithm in a short time.
- Written by: Thomas Weise
Benchmarking, the empirical algorithm performance comparison, is usually the only feasible way to find which algorithm is good for a given problem. Benchmarking consists of two steps: First, the algorithms are applied to the benchmarking problems and data is collected. Second, the collected data is evaluated. There is little guidance for the first and a lack of tool support for the second step. Researchers investigating new problems need to implement both data collection and evaluation. In our new paper "From Standardized Data Formats to Standardized Tools for Optimization Algorithm Benchmarking," we want to make the case for defining standard directory structures and file formats for the performance data and metadata of experiments with optimization algorithms. Such formats must be easy to read, write, and to incorporate into existing setups. If there are commonly accepted formats and researchers would actually use them, then this would allow more general tools to emerge. There would be real incentive for everyone who makes an evaluation tool to use the common format right away and then, maybe, publish their tool for others to use. Then, researchers then would no longer need to implement their own evaluation programs. We try to derive suitable formats by analyzing what existing tools do and what information they need. We then present a general tool, our optimizationBenchmarking.org framework, including an open source library for reading and writing data in our format. Since our framework obtains its data from a general file format, it can assess the performance of arbitrary algorithms implemented in arbitrary programming languages on arbitrary single-objective optimization problems.
- Written by: Thomas Weise
We have two accepted papers at the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO'17), which will take place from July 15 to 19, 2017 in Berlin, Germany:
- Weichen Liu, Thomas Weise, Yuezhong Wu, and Qi Qi. Combining Two Local Searches with Crossover: An Efficient Hybrid Algorithm for the Traveling Salesman Problem. In Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO'17), July 15-19, 2017, Berlin, Germany, New York, NY, USA: ACM Press, pages 298-305, ISBN: 978-1-4503-4920-8.
doi:10.1145/3071178.3071201 / paper / slides - Qi Qi, Thomas Weise, and Bin Li. Modeling Optimization Algorithm Runtime Behavior and its Applications. In Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO'17) Companion, July 15-19, 2017, Berlin, Germany, New York, NY, USA: ACM Press, pages 115-116, ISBN: 978-1-4503-4939-0.
doi:10.1145/3067695.3076042 / paper / poster
GECCO is the prime event for research in Evolutionary Computation and organized yearly by SIGEVO, the ACM Special Interest Group on Genetic and Evolutionary Computation. We are looking forward to meeting you at the conference ^_^
- Written by: Thomas Weise
The Institute of Applied Optimization welcomes Mrs. Bing Zhou [周冰], who today has joined us as administrative secretary [行政秘书]. She has previously studied English here at the Hefei University [合肥学院]. She took part very successfully in English language competitions and has gained experience via several voluntary activities. She will not just support us as translator and secretary, but also actively contribute to the administration and management of this institute.
We are looking forward to working together.