Developed by John Holland in 1975. *Genetic Algorithms (GAs) are search algorithms based on the mechanics of the natural selection process (biological evolution). The most basic concept is that the strong tend to adapt and survive while the weak tend to die out. That is, optimization is based on evolution, and the “Survival of the fittest” concept. * GAs have the ability to create an initial population of feasible solutions, and then recombine them in a way to guide their search to only the most promising areas of the state space. * Each feasible solution is encoded as a chromosome (string) also called a genotype, and each chromosome is given a measure of fitness via a fitness (evaluation or objective) function. * The fitness of a chromosome determines its ability to survive and produce offspring. _ A finite population of chromosomes is maintained.