Object-Oriented Development of an Optimization Software in Java Using Evolution Strategies

Finding the optimal set of parameters of an often rather difficult system is a major task in numerical optimization. Evolution strategies are optimization techniques based on mutation, reproduction and recombination of configurations as well as environmental selection. A modular composition offers the applicability for different problems. For example, different simulation software packages may be applied and combined with different evaluation strategies. The possibility to approximate the objective function is given. This is facilitated by the use of modern software techniques like design patterns. Therefore, an innovative object-oriented software design for implementing the evolution strategies using Java is presented, discussed and the efficiency of the software package is proven by numerical examples.