hill-climbing

Scaling steep terrain

Hill-climbing is the activity of walking up steep slopes for exercise or recreation, less technical than mountaineering: We did some hill-climbing in the Scottish Highlands.

In computing and mathematics, hill-climbing is an optimization algorithm that iteratively moves toward better solutions, like climbing upward toward a peak—though it can get stuck on local maxima rather than finding the global best.

hiking

ascent

Upward movement

summitPeak or diplomatic gathering
trailPath through wilderness
slopeAngled terrain or steepness

incline · trekking · scrambling · peak · ridge · gradient · footpath · elevation · terrain · mountaineering

algorithm

optimization

Maximizing efficiency or performance

heuristicPractical solving shortcut
iterationRepeated procedural pass
convergenceProcess of approaching sameness

neighbor · plateau · escape · evaluation · computational · stochastic · parameter · greedy

cycling

gradient

Rate of change across space

cadenceRhythmic pulse or pattern
gearingInterlocking toothed wheels
switchbackReversing mountain path

ascent · summit · peloton · watts · lactate · pedaling · hairpin · descent · breakaway · domestique

motorsport

rally

Gathering for a cause

inclineAngled rising surface
tractionAdhesive friction enabling movement
horsepowerRate of mechanical work

hairpin · torque · acceleration · course · record · vehicle · driver · engine · gradient · competition

Opposites

vertical direction of movement

hill-climbingdescending

Moving downward

going downhill · descent · coming down · dropping · falling

optimization strategy (computational)

hill-climbingrandom search

Unsystematic examination of possibilities

random walk · breadth-first search

terrain difficulty

hill-climbingstrolling

Walking at ease

Family

hill, climb, hills, hilly, hillside, hilltop, climbs, climbed, climber

Familiarity: Top 500,000
Profile: Used worldwide · Timeless · Concrete · Everyday, not technical · Rated G