Traditional Methods — Part 1

There are many classic algorithms that are designed to search spaces for an optimum solution. In fact, there are so many algorithms that it’s natural to wonder why there’s such a plethora of choices. The sad answer is that none of these traditional methods is robust. Every time the problem changes you have to change the algorithm. This is one of the primary shortcomings of the well-established optimization techniques. There’s a method for every problem — the problem is that most people only know one method, or maybe a few. So they often get stuck using the wrong tool to attack their problems and consequently generate poor results.