Solving 3-SAT by GAs adapting constraint weights

Handling NP complete problems with GAs is a great challenge. In particular the presence of constraints makes finding solutions hard for a GA. In this paper we present a problem independent constraint handling mechanism, Stepwise Adaptation of Weights (SAW), and apply it for solving the 3-SAT problem. Our experiments prove that the SAW mechanism substantially increases GA performance. Furthermore, we compare our SAW-ing GA with the best heuristic technique we could trace, WGSAT, and conclude that the GA is superior to the heuristic method.