A Brief Review of Nature-Inspired Algorithms for Optimization

Swarm-intelligence-based and bio-inspired algorithms form a hot topic in the developments of new algorithms inspired by nature. These nature-inspired metaheuristic algorithms can be based on swarm intelligence, biological systems, physical and chemical systems. Therefore, these algorithms can be called swarm-intelligence-based, bio-inspired, physics-and chemistry-based, depending on the sources of inspiration. Though not all of them are efficient, a few algorithms have proved to be very efficient and thus have become popular tools for solving real-world problems. Some of the algorithms have been insufficiently studied. The purpose of this review is to present a relatively comprehensive list of all the algorithms in the literature, so as to inspire further research.