Differential evolution for solving multi-mode resource-constrained project scheduling problems

In this paper we consider the resource-constrained project scheduling problem with multiple execution modes for each activity and minimization of the makespan. To solve this problem, we propose a differential evolution (DE) algorithm. We focus on the performance of this algorithm to solve the problem within small time per activity. Finally, we present the results of our thorough computational study. Results obtained on six classes of test problems and comparison with other algorithms from the literature show that our algorithm gives better solutions. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.