Example: Implementing Time-sensitive Simulated Annealing

Figure A.1: Heuristic Hierarchy

The Simulated Annealing class, derived from an abstract class Basic Search class, implements three abstract virtual functions:

• double overhead_time() - returns the minimal time needed by the search to give meaningful results.

• void search_specific_display(ostream *out) - displays information that is specific to the Simulated Annealing heuristic such as temperature. The conventional format is (attribute, value).

• void search() - this is the actual search begins.

The function BasicSearch::get_remaining_time() returns how much time remains whenever it is called. We'll use a simple annealing schedule based on constant reduction of temperature.