Viral system algorithm: foundations and comparison between selective and massive infections

Abstract

This paper presents a guided and deep introduction to viral systems (VS), a novel bio-inspired methodology based on a natural biological process taking part when the organism has to give a response to an external infection. VS has proven to be very efficient when dealing with problems of high complexity. The paper discusses on the foundations of VS, presents the main pseudocodes that need to be implemented and illustrates the methodology application. A comparison between VS and other metaheuristics, as well between different VS approaches is presented. Finally, trends and new research opportunities are presented for this bio-inspired methodology.