hill climbing

hill climbing

   <algorithm> A {graph} search {algorithm} where the current
   path is extended with a successor node which is closer to the
   solution than the end of the current path.

   In simple hill climbing, the first closer node is chosen
   whereas in steepest ascent hill climbing all successors are
   compared and the closest to the solution is chosen.  Both
   forms fail if there is no closer node.  This may happen if
   there are local maxima in the {search space} which are not
   solutions.  Steepest ascent hill climbing is similar to {best
   first search} but the latter tries all possible extensions of
   the current path in order whereas steepest ascent only tries
   one.

   (1995-12-09)