This is a guidebook for those who want to use computational experiments to support their work in algorithm design and analysis. Numerous case studies and examples show how to apply these concepts. All the necessary concepts in computer architecture and data analysis are covered so that the book can be used by anyone who has taken a course or two in data structures and algorithms.

Experimental algorithmics, as its name indicates, combines algorithmic work and experimentation: algorithms are not just designed, but also implemented and tested on a variety of instances. Perhaps the most important lesson in this process is that designing an algorithm is but the first step in the process of developing robust and efficient software for applications. Based on a seminar held at Dagstuhl Castle, Germany in September 2000, this state-of-the-art survey presents a coherent survey of the work done in the area so far. The 11 carefully reviewed chapters provide complete coverage of all current topics in experimental algorithmics.

In operations research and computer science it is common practice to evaluate the performance of optimization algorithms on the basis of computational results, and the experimental approach should follow accepted principles that guarantee the reliability and reproducibility of results. However, computational experiments differ from those in other sciences, and the last decade has seen considerable methodological research devoted to understanding the particular features of such experiments and assessing the related statistical methods. This book consists of methodological contributions on different scenarios of experimental analysis. The first part overviews the main issues in the experimental analysis of algorithms, and discusses the experimental cycle of algorithm development; the second part treats the characterization by means of statistical distributions of algorithm performance in terms of solution quality, runtime and other measures; and the third part collects advanced methods from experimental design for configuring and tuning algorithms on a specific class of instances with the goal of using the least amount of experimentation. The contributor list includes leading scientists in algorithm design, statistical design, optimization and heuristics, and most chapters provide theoretical background and are enriched with case studies. This book is written for researchers and practitioners in operations research and computer science who wish to improve the experimental assessment of optimization algorithms and, consequently, their design.

Annotation. This volume constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 9th International Symposium on Experimental Algorithms, SEA 2010, held on Ischia Island, Naples, Italy, in May 2010. The 40 revised full papers presented together with two invited papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 73 submissions. The topics covered include algorithm engineering, algorithmic libraries, algorithmic mechanism design, analysis of algorithms, algorithms for memory hierarchies, approximation techniques, bioinformatics, branch and bound algorithms, combinatorial and irregular problems, combinatorial structures and graphs, communication networks, complex networks, computational geometry, computational learning theory, computational optimization, computer systems, cryptography and security, data streams, data structures, distributed and parallel algorithms, evaluation of algorithms for realistic environments, experimental techniques and statistics, graph drawing, heuristics for combinatorial optimization.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 8th International Symposium on Experimental and Efficient Algorithms, SEA 2009, held in Dortmund, Germany, in June 2009. The 23 revised full papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 64 submissions and present current research on experimental evaluation and engineering of algorithms, as well as in various aspects of computational optimization and its applications. Contributions are supported by experimental evaluation, methodological issues in the design and interpretation of experiments, the use of (meta- ) heuristics, or application-driven case studies that deepen the understanding of a problem's complexity.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 7th International Workshop on Experimental and Efficient Algorithms, WEA 2008, held in Provincetown, MA, USA, in May/June 2008. The 26 revised full papers were carefully reviewed and selected from numerous submissions and present current research on experimental evaluation and engineering of algorithms, as well as in various aspects of computational optimization and its applications. Special focus is put on the use of experimental methods to guide the design, analysis, implementation, and evaluation of algorithms, heuristics, and optimization programs.

This volume constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 10th International Symposium on Experimental Algorithms, SEA 2011, held in Kolimpari, Chania, Crete, Greece, in May 2011. The 36 revised full papers presented together with 2 invited papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 83 submissions and present current research in the area of design, analysis, and experimental evaluation and engineering of algorithms, as well as in various aspects of computational optimization and its applications.