Abstract
Selecting the most relevant subset of features from a dataset is a vital step in data mining and machine learning. Each feature in a dataset has 2(n) possible subsets, making it challenging to select the optimum collection of features using typical methods. As a result, a new metaheuristics-based feature selection method based on the dipper-throated and grey-wolf optimization (DTO-GW) algorithms has been developed in this research. Instability can result when the selection of features is subject to metaheuristics, which can lead to a wide range of results. Thus, we adopted hybrid optimization in our method of optimizing, which allowed us to better balance exploration and harvesting chores more equitably. We propose utilizing the binary DTO-GW search approach we previously devised for selecting the optimal subset of attributes. In the proposed method, the number of features selected is minimized, while classification accuracy is increased. To test the proposed method's performance against eleven other state-of-the-art approaches, eight datasets from the UCI repository were used, such as binary grey wolf search (bGWO), binary hybrid grey wolf, and particle swarm optimization (bGWO-PSO), bPSO, binary stochastic fractal search (bSFS), binary whale optimization algorithm (bWOA), binary modified grey wolf optimization (bMGWO), binary multiverse optimization (bMVO), binary bowerbird optimization (bSBO), binary hysteresis optimization (bHy), and binary hysteresis optimization (bHWO). The suggested method is superior and successful in handling the problem of feature selection, according to the results of the experiments.