Evolutionary approach for automated component-based decision tree algorithm design

Abstract

This paper proposes a framework for automated design of component-based decision tree algorithms. These algorithms are being constructed by interchanging components extracted from decision tree algorithms and their partial improvements. Manual selection of the best-suited algorithm for a specific problem is a complex task because of the huge algorithmic space derived from component-based design. The proposed framework searches through the algorithmic space with an evolutionary algorithm by interchanging components and tuning parameters, and finds a near optimal algorithm for a specific problem. Through experiments we show that using this meta-heuristic is justified in automated component-based algorithm design. This approach is useful not only as an algorithm design help, but also as a technology enhanced learning tool, which aids the understanding of the algorithms.