Differential Evolution: A Practical Approach to Global Optimization (Natural Computing Series) [Hardcover]

Kenneth Price (Author), Rainer M. Storn (Author), Jouni A. Lampinen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 22, 2005 | ISBN-10: 3540209506 | ISBN-13: 978-3540209508 | Edition: 2005

Problems demanding globally optimal solutions are ubiquitous, yet many are intractable when they involve constrained functions having many local optima and interacting, mixed-type variables. The differential evolution (DE) algorithm is a practical approach to global numerical optimization which is easy to understand, simple to implement, reliable, and fast. Packed with illustrations, computer code, new insights, and practical advice, this volume explores DE in both principle and practice. It is a valuable resource for professionals needing a proven optimizer and for students wanting an evolutionary perspective on global numerical optimization.

Editorial Reviews

Review

From the reviews: "This book is about an evolutionary method, called differential evolution (DE) … . the authors claim that ‘this book is designed to be easy to understand and simple to use’. Indeed, they have achieved their goal. The book is enjoyable to read, fully illustrated with figures and C-like pseudocodes … . this book is foremost addressed to engineers … . Moreover, those interested in evolutionary algorithms will certainly find this book to be both interesting and useful." (Panos M. Pardalos, Mathematical Reviews, Issue 2006 g)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 558 pages
• Publisher: Springer; 2005 edition (December 22, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3540209506
• ISBN-13: 978-3540209508
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,307,425 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #25 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Algorithms > Genetic

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An OK book on Differential Evolution, December 8, 2007

By 

Wuping Xin "Traffic Digger" (New York) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Differential Evolution: A Practical Approach to Global Optimization (Natural Computing Series) (Hardcover)

I bought the book simply because the authors are the original developers of the algorithm, and hope to get some more information than what I learned from the literature (isolated individual publications over the years).

I am a little disappointed, and feeling regretted spending nearly $70 on this book. That said, though, I would like to give a 3.75 stars if amazon allows me to do so.

In general, the English seems not very well polished sometimes could hinder the understanding. The code can be used to help understand the algorithm but be warned, they might not be amenable for direct use in any serious software development.

I spend more than 3 days reading the book but I feel what I got from the book is not even comparable to what I learned in just 1 hours from for example the following paper
Jouni Lampinen and Ivan Zelinka, "Mixed Variable Non-linear Optimization By Differential Evolution". The paper gives very clear and concise description of DE. (The author of the paper was the last author of the book).

Finally, it is my opinion that: if you are completely new to Differential Evolution, it is not advisable to spend any money on this book. You would easily get lost by the overwhelming implementation details. For the purpose of learning Differential Evolution, relevant papers, wikipedia, or visiting various links on the subject would help you even better learn the algorithm. As a matter of fact (at least to me) the original papers by these authors are far more better (in terms of conciseness and clarity) and accessible than what they cook in this book.

However, if you already have some exposure to Differential Evolution,but would like to know the specific implementation details or more in-depth theoretical discussions, the book can provide something more, especially regarding the implementation details such as initialization, crossover, scaling factor etc that not readily available (or omitted) from isolated publications.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good introduction book for DE, February 28, 2006

By 

Chinmay K. Desai "book maven" (Gujarat, INDIA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Differential Evolution: A Practical Approach to Global Optimization (Natural Computing Series) (Hardcover)

Some one who wants to begin with DE. This the good starting point. Book started with good conceptual backgroud and carried away with codeing details of DE. Kenneth puts enough efforts to clear concept behind DE. Only thing missing is that book demands little background with GAs, EAs and optimization theory.Other wise nice book for those who are familiarized with concept of evolutionary techniques.