Introducing the One-Max Problem

Get to know about the One-Max problem along with exploring the first step in the structure of genetic algorithms.

What is the One-Max problem?

The One-Max problem is a trivial problem often used to introduce the concept of genetic algorithms. It’s incredibly simple, but it’s great for introducing many of the critical aspects of a genetic algorithm. The problem boils down to one question: what is the maximum sum of a bitstring (a string consisting of only 1s and 0s) of length N?

Of course, we know that the maximum sum of a bitstring of length N is N. However, if we wanted to prove this using a brute-force search, we’d end up needing to search through 2N2^{N} ...

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