Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology

genetic algorithms 207by virtually forcing vendors to include its software withtheir systems. In 2000, a federal judge agreed with the government.In November 2002, an appeals court accepted aproposed settlement that would not break up Microsoft butwould instead restrain a number of its unfair business practices.Gates’s personality often seemed to be in the center ofthe ongoing controversy about Microsoft’s behavior. Positively,he has been characterized as having incredibleenergy, drive, and focus in revolutionizing the developmentand marketing of software.On the other hand, Gates has been unapologetic abouthis dominance of the market. During the 1990s he oftenappeared defensive and abrasive in giving legal depositionsor making public statements. As an executive, he has at timesshown little tolerance for what he considers to be incompetenceor shortsightedness on the part of subordinates.There is another face to Bill Gates: He is one of theleading philanthropists of our time. In 2000 he and hiswife founded the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Thefoundation’s endowment was about $33 billion by 2006,and Warren Buffet pledged to nearly double that throughstock donations. The foundation gives over $800 million ayear to global health programs (including vaccination programs),supports a variety of global development efforts,and donates money and software to libraries and educationalinstitutions. In June 2006 Gates announced that hewould be withdrawing from involvement in the day-to-dayaffairs of Microsoft, in order to devote more time to philanthropy.Since 2004, Gates has been featured on Time magazine’sannual list of 100 most influential people. In 2005, themagazine made Gates, along with his wife and U2’s leadsinger Bono, “Persons of the Year.” Gates has also receivedfour honorary doctorates.Further ReadingBank, David. Breaking Windows: How Bill Gates Fumbled the Futureof Microsoft. New York: Free Press, 2001.Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Available online. URL: http://www.gatesfoundation.org/default.htm. Accessed August 5,2007.Lesinski, Jeanne M. Bill Gates (Biography A&E). Rev. ed. Minneapolis:Lerner Publications, 2007.Lowe, Jane C. Bill Gates Speaks: Insights from the World’s GreatestEntrepreneur. New York: Wiley, 1998.Markoff, John. “Exit, Pursued by 1,000 Bears (Microsoft Corp.’sBill Gates)” New York Times, July 30, 2007, p, C1.Wallace, James, and Jim Erickson. Hard Drive: Bill Gates and theMaking of the Microsoft Empire. New York: HarperBusiness,1993.Bill Gates is the multibillionaire cofounder of Microsoft Corporation,the leader in operating systems and software for personalcomputers. The company has faced antitrust actions since thelate 1990s. (Microsoft Corporation)genetic algorithmsThe normal method for getting a computer to perform atask is to specify the task clearly, choose the appropriateapproach (see algorithm), and then implement and testthe code. However, this approach requires that the programmerfirst know the appropriate approach, and evenwhen there are many potentially suitable algorithms, it isn’talways clear which will prove optimal.Starting in the 1960s, however, researchers began toexplore the idea that an evolutionary approach might beadaptable to programming. Biologists today know thatnature did not begin with a set of highly optimized algorithms.Rather, it addressed the problems of survivalthrough a proliferation of alternatives (through mutationand recombination) that are then subjected to natural selection,with the fittest (most successful) organisms survivingto reproduce. Researchers began to develop computer programsthat emulated this process.A genetic program consists of a number of copies of aroutine that contain encoded “genes” that represent elementsof algorithms. The routines are given a task (suchas sorting data or recognizing patterns) and the most successfulroutines are allowed to “reproduce” by exchanginggenetic material. (Often, further “mutation” or variation isintroduced at this stage, to increase the range of availablesolutions.) The new “generation” is then allowed to tacklethe problem, and the process is repeated. As a result, theroutines become increasingly efficient at solving the givenproblem, just as organisms in nature become more perfectlyadapted to a given environment.