An overview of metaheuristics: accurate and efficient methods for optimisation

This article presents an overview of metaheuristics as high-level soft computing strategies for solving optimisation problems. A general view of the field is presented, and a review of the main algorithms within the class of metaheuristics is reviewed, by introducing the main concepts behind their formulations and their application to solve real-world problems from several domains. A review of the main articles published in International Journal of Metaheuristics is also presented. Finally, some of the main current and future research lines in the field are commented as concluding remarks.