bAnd now it's time to have some fun. We are going to develop a very powerful, three-dimensional application that you won't find anywhere else. This application will allow you to visualize how individual functions optimize over time, with a two and three-dimensional graphic of each. The source code for this application is located in the instructions given for access of the book's source code. This application will be very unique in that we will use a mixture of open source and third-party controls to create an unbelievably powerful application. Open source doesn't handle everything all the time, and for those of you serious about graphics I wanted to expose you to some controls aside from the open source standards such as ZedGraph, Microsoft Charting Controls, and others. As you will see in a moment, the difference is astounding and worth the ride. You can decide later if you want to change anything back to completely open source.
We are also going to show you how we can use Particle Swarm Optimization to enhance visualizations of function optimizations. By doing so you will see how each particle in the swarm converges to the optimal solution.
In this chapter, we are going to accomplish the following:
- Build a Visual Studio WinForms project
- Create a function optimization tester
- Implement graphic controls for our visualizations
- Talk about various third-party controls used in this project
- Learn about the various hyperparameters available
- Learn to tune and adjust hyperparameters
- Learn the effect of adjusting hyperparameters
- Learn about the purpose of functions
- Learn how to add new functions
- Demonstrate adding a new function and running a test