An object model for search spaces and their transformations

Proposes an object model for a generic optimization framework centred around two concepts: search spaces and transformations of search spaces. We define and discuss the model´s basic entities and demonstrate how commonly used optimization techniques within the world of evolutionary algorithms (EAs) can be represented in the model. We briefly discuss an implementation of the model, called bIOS (Belgian Intelligent Optimization System), which serves as an efficient tool for both theoretical research in EAs and industry-oriented optimization tasks