The terminology is bad. Don't confuse "search and optimisation"-type search with "pathfinding"-type search. A-star is the latter, but GP (and other metaheuristi

The terminology is bad. Don't confuse "search and optimisation"-type search with "pathfinding"-type search. A-star is the latter, but GP (and other metaheuristics like GA) are the former. To be clear -- if you're looking for eg a good exam timetable, you just need a good timetable -- you don't need a path from some other point in the space to that timetable.