What is the Travelling Salesman Problem?
The idea behind the Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP) is as follows: A salesman has a given tour of a specified number of cities. Starting from any one of these cities, he must make a tour, visiting each of the other cities on the tour only once, with his final destination being his city of departure. This task should be achieved in such a way as to minimise the total distance travelled on the tour. Everyday Usage Of course the Problem’s most obvious application in everyday life is for that of our travelling salesman, who seeks the best route around a number of places where he has appointments. By finding an efficient route, in theory, he saves time and lowers the costs of his journey. Other everyday applications of this problem is in electrics, where an electrician might need to consider the best way of wiring a large house, or where producers of circuit boards need to work out the most efficient circuiting arrangements on the board.
