Introduction

Abstract

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on recent works concerning string problems that can be expressed in terms of combinatorial optimization (CO). Many combinatorial optimization problems can be expressed in terms of an integer programming (IP) problem. The book involves maximizing or minimizing an objective function of a certain number of decision variables, subject to inequality and/or equality constraints and integrality restrictions on the decision variables. It explains a CO problem known as the unbalanced minimum common string partition (UMCSP) problem. The book deals with a family of string problems that are quite common in bio-informatics applications: longest common subsequence (LCS) problems. It provides an overview over the best metaheuristic approaches for solving string selection and comparison problems, with a special emphasis on so-called consensus string problems.