Evolution strategies – A comprehensive introduction

This article gives a comprehensive introduction into one of the main branches of evolutionary computation – the evolution strategies (ES) the history of which dates back to the 1960s in Germany. Starting from a survey of history the philosophical background is explained in order to make understandable why ES are realized in the way they are. Basic ES algorithms and design principles for variation and selection operators as well as theoretical issues are presented, and future branches of ES research are discussed.