The term evolutionary computing (EC) refers to the study of the foundations and applications of certain heuristic techniques based on the principles of natural evolution, and thus the aim when designing evolutionary algorithms (EAs) is to mimic some of the processes taking place in natural evolution.

Many researchers around the world have been developing EC methodologies for designing intelligent decision-making systems for a variety of real-world problems. This book provides a collection of 40 articles, written by leading experts in the field, containing new material on both the theoretical aspects of EC and demonstrating its usefulness in various kinds of large-scale real-world problems. Of the articles contributed, 23 articles deal with various theoretical aspects of EC and 17 demonstrate successful applications of EC methodologies.