Investigating and comparing the performance of meta-heuristic algorithms in feature selection and software fault prediction

Abstract

Abstract Meta‑Heuristic algorithms are optimization techniques that provide the optimal solution through processes of repeated exploration and exploitation of the entire search space. Feature selection is also an important and prominent process in the field of machine learning that reduces data dimensions. This paper examines and compares nature-inspired meta-heuristic algorithms for feature selection to increase the accuracy of software fault prediction. Researchers cannot easily select meta-heuristic algorithms as a suitable method for their research due to their great variety and multiplicity. In this paper, by describing the feature selection techniques and its methods, the application of meta-heuristic algorithms in different fields, such as swarm intelligence and binary methods of these algorithms has been investigated. Also, by introducing 18 meta-heuristic algorithms in 6 different categories and evaluating each of them, a suitable analysis has been provided to researchers so that they can easily and with the highest efficiency choose the appropriate algorithm and method of their work. In the papers presented so far, meta-heuristic algorithms have been studied from only one aspect, while in this article, while studying different types of research, they have tried to study and evaluate them from different aspects. The effectiveness of the combination of three meta-heuristic algorithms, developed butterfly flame, bee colony and developed wall, was tested on 20 data sets. the proposed method in 17 datasets was able to improve the result of 7 datasets.