by A message from the comp.ai.genetic FAQmaster.
This message is for people who are (relatively) new to this newsgroup.
There is a `Frequently Asked Questions list' (FAQ) for comp.ai.genetic,
titled "The Hitch Hikers Guide To Evolutionary Computation". This
contains a vast amount of information, primarily aimed at newcomers. The
plain text version of guide is in six parts, and is posted to the net
(comp.ai.genetic, comp.answers and news.answers) every three months. The
last posting was on January 18th. The next posting is due on March 20th.
If you'd like a copy, and can't wait that long, it can be retrieved from
various archives in various ways. Details below.
There is also a HTML version of the guide, available via the World Wide
Web. This includes links between questions and links to glossary entries,
among other things. Details below.
If you have information which could usefully go into the guide, or any
in the subject line: HHGTEC, and say which question your comments relate to.
All contributions/help welcome. (Note: DO NOT simply REPLY to this message.
The address which this message comes from is simply a receptacle for junk
mail!).
If you have any questions which you'd like to be answered in the FAQ,
post them to comp.ai.genetic first. If any sensible answers are
forthcoming, let me know and I'll include the information in the FAQ.
FAQ Table of Contents
---------------------
Part1
Q0: How about an introduction to comp.ai.genetic?
- What is comp.ai.genetic all about?
- 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?
How to get hold of the Guide
----------------------------
(i) World Wide Web HTML Version
Available from Encore sites including:
Germany: UUnet Deutschland GmbH:
http://surf.de.uu.net/encore/www/
Spain: The University of Granada:
http://krypton.ugr.es/~encore/www/
The University of Oviedo:
http://www.etsimo.uniovi.es/ftp/pub/EC/FAQ/www/
UK: The University of Birmingham
http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/Mirrors/ftp.de.uu.net/EC/clife/www/
USA: The Santa Fe Institute:
http://alife.santafe.edu/~joke/encore/www/
Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN:
http://www.cs.purdue.edu/coast/archive/clife/FAQ/www/
Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong:
http://www.cs.cuhk.hk/pub/EC/FAQ/www/top.htm
(ii) Other Versions
The guide is also available in PostScript format (good for printing
out, about 110 pages), and as plain text (6 files, each about
25-90k). For details of these different versions, see the HTML version
of the FAQ.
David Beasley, Bath, UK __o
-comp.ai.genetic FAQ Editor- ___________________()/ ()___