The last step in the initialization for the genetic algorithm optimization is to create the initial solution population, the first generation. The GA procedure provides you with the Initialize call to accomplish this task. The procedure provides several options for initializing the first population or reinitializing the solution population during the optimization process. For example, you can specify a data set in the FIRSTGEN= option of the PROC GA statement to be read to populate the initial generation, and use the initialize call:

  call Initialize('_dataset_', PopulationSize);

Other possible initialization options include generating solutions uniformly distributed over the solution domain, executing a user-defined initialization routine, carrying over a portion of the previous population (for reinitialization), or any combination of those actions. See the section Initialize Call for a full explanation of initialization actions.