Other Methods to Combat Convergence

Alternative strategies

Mutation is the most common method for preventing premature convergence in the real world. This is largely because it’s so effective.

While mutation is the most common method of preventing premature convergence, other methods exist. In the chapter Selecting the Best, we saw how important it was to select sufficiently different chromosomes for crossover. A proper selection strategy can go a long way in preventing premature convergence.

Choosing an effective crossover strategy is another means of preventing premature convergence. For example, if we use uniform crossover instead of single-point crossover, our algorithms are less susceptible to premature convergence.

Yet another means is by replacing similar individuals with new children; this is something we’ll explore further in the chapter Replacing and Transitioning.