Simulated Annealing is a general purpose technique aimed at solving a very broad range of optimization problems. Fast, general and easy to implement. It involves no magic other than probabilities.
Recent talks: Software Development (Smalltalks 2007), Extreme Validation (Smalltalk Solutions & ESUG 2007), Making the Most of User Changes (Smalltalk Solutions & ESUG 2008), Instance-Specific Behavior for the Working Smalltalker (Smalltalks 2008 & ESUG 2009), Homological Algebra in Smalltalk (Smalltalks 2009), When will my Feature Be Ready (ESUG 2010 and Smalltalk Solutions 2011), Inspecting Smalltalk (Smalltalks 2010).
07-22-ESUG-SimulatedAnnealing.zip