A local search template (extended abstract)

A template is presented that captures the majority of local search algorithms proposed in the literature, such as iterative improvement, simulated annealing, threshold accepting, tabu search, and genetic algorithms. The template leads to a classification of existing local search algorithms and suggests directions for designing new types of local search approaches.\nKey words: local search, iterative improvement, simulated annealing, threshold accepting, tabu search, genetic algorithms.