Traveling Salesman Problem Solver Using Simulated Annealing

This project is a C++ program that solves the Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) using the Simulated Annealing algorithm. Given a set of cities with specific coordinates, the program attempts to find the shortest possible tour that visits each city exactly once and returns to the starting point.

Table of Contents

• Description
• Requirements
• Usage

Description

This program reads city coordinates from a .tsp file, optimizes the route using Simulated Annealing, and outputs the best tour and its distance. Simulated Annealing is a probabilistic technique that searches for an approximate global optimum in a large solution space, making it well-suited for TSP, an NP-hard problem.

Requirements

• C++ Compiler: A compiler that supports C++11 or later.
• Input File: A .tsp file containing city coordinates in the TSPLIB format.

Usage

1. Clone the Repository

   git clone <repository_url>
   cd <repository_name>

2. Compile the Program

   g++ -o tsp_solver tsp_solver.cpp -std=c++11

3. Run the Program

   ./tsp_solver

4. Input the Filename When prompted, enter the name of the .tsp file (e.g., xqf131.tsp).