Pattern search (optimization)

Pattern search is like playing a game of "Hot or Cold". Imagine you and your friends are playing a game where one person hides an object (like a toy) in a room while the others try to find it. The person who hid the toy gives clues like "hot" when the searcher is close to the object, and "cold" when they are far away.

In pattern search, a computer program tries to find the best solution to a problem by guessing different solutions and asking if it's "hot or cold". The program starts with an initial guess for the solution, and then changes small parts of the guess to see if the solution gets better or worse. The program keeps trying different changes until it finds the best solution it can.

For example, let's say we want to find the shortest route between two cities. We can use pattern search to guess different routes and see if they are "hot" (close to the shortest route) or "cold" (far from the shortest route). The program will keep adjusting the route until it gets as close as possible to the shortest route.

Pattern search can be used for many different types of problems, from finding the best design for a car to optimizing a stock portfolio. It's like having a computer play "Hot or Cold" with a problem, trying different solutions until it finds the best one.