A guide to implementing tabu search

In recent years the number of tabu search (TS) users has dramatically increased, as reflected by the number of TS-related publications appearing in scientific journals. However, the literature offers little help to researchers and practitioners interested in applying the tabu search framework for the first time. This paper is intended to be a guide for those newcomers to the tabu search field. The TS elements are described using pseudo-code ‘modules’ in the context of the n-queens problem. This combinatorial problem has been widely used as testbed to develop and benchmark search procedures in the artificial intelligence area. Alternative TS designs are presented and their relative merits are discussed.