Hands-On Neural Network Programming with C#

Function minimization and maximization

Function minimization and maximization are the process of finding the smallest and largest value of a given function. Let's talk briefly about that value.

If the value is within a given range, then it is called the local extrema; if it is within the entire domain of a function then it is called the global extrema. Let's say we have a function f, and it's defined against a domain X. The maximum, or global, point at x* is f(x*) is greater than or equal to f(x) for all x in the domain X. Conversely, the function's global minimum point at x* is f(x*) is less than or equal to f(x) for all x in the domain X.

In a simpler fashion, the maximum point is also called the maximum value, and the minimum point is ...