[juliennakache]

It was interesting to read both of you guys. I can see a lot of ego on both sides... But that's a good thing :)

No one is wrong or right. It just depends on what you believe users are doing. One thing is certain: users use "local search" techniques as opposed to "systematic" search. The salesman problem describes this: the algorithm operates using a single current node and moves only to neighbors of that node.

However, depending on the "local search" algorithm used, those may be greedy or not: - "Hill Climbing" is greedy. The algorithm is affected by local maxima, ridges and plateaux. - "Simulated annealing" is not greedy. It uses "gradient descent" and does not always pick the "best" neighbors.

I believe the heuristics used by the users: - are not very precise ("Well, it is better, right?") - may change over time ("Oh, look at this!") That's why, I think it is not a "greedy" algorithm with deterministic results, but it is NOT complete anyway (hence, the clear process).

I can't wait for you guys to kick my butt :) ps: I'm a business major...