length(your_solution) == length(N)
The Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) is a classic optimization problem in the fields of computer science and operations research. It involves finding the shortest possible route that visits a set of given cities once, and then returns to the original city. The challenge is to determine the optimal ordering of the cities to minimize the total distance traveled by the salesman.
In this notebook, you get a chance to try to solve the problem while competing against the computer, which solves it using an algorithm known as Simulated Annealing, an optimization algorithm inspired by the annealing process in metallurgy. It is used to solve combinatorial optimization problems like the TSP.
In the cell below, set N to the number of cities (or houses in our case) that you would like to start with. These will be generated randomly. Then, set your_solution to the path that you believe is the shortest. There is no need to add the starting point to the end of the vector; there is code below that handles that for you. Once you have entered your solution, push the Go! button and see if you beat the computer!
To play another round, or to generate new points, re-run the cell that defines N.