Definition
Incremental Heuristic Search refers to algorithms that refine a candidate solution step-by-step, guided by heuristics that estimate the cost to reach the goal. Unlike exhaustive searches, these methods focus on promising paths, making them efficient for large or complex problem spaces. Common examples include Hill Climbing and Simulated Annealing. They are particularly useful when finding an optimal solution is computationally prohibitive, and a sufficiently good solution is acceptable within reasonable time constraints.
Summary
A search strategy that incrementally improves a solution estimate using heuristic guidance rather than exploring the entire state space.
Key Concepts
- Heuristics
- Local Search
- Optimization
- State Space
Use Cases
- Route planning in logistics
- Scheduling problems
- Constraint satisfaction tasks