What is the difference between the study of evolutionary algorithms and optimization? I have a course named "Evolutionary Algorithms", but our teacher is always mentioning the word "optimization" in his lectures.

I am confused. Is he actually teaching optimization? If yes, why is the name of the course not "Optimization"?

What is the difference between the study of evolutionary algorithms and optimization?
Optimization problems are formally defined by two things:

Optimization objective: $$\min_{x \in \mathbb{R}} f(x)$$
List of constraints: $\text{s.t. } x &gt; 0$; $\text{s.t. } x^2 &lt; 100$, ...

Optimization theory as a field deals with variations of such problems. The algorithms that are part of optimization include gradient descent and variants, the simplex algorithm, simulated annealing and many more. I would also include evolutionary algorithms as one of the algorithms in this field.

I am confused. Is he actually teaching optimization? If yes, why is the name of the course not &quot;Optimization&quot;?

Evolutionary algorithms are a subfield of optimization. The name of the course is evolutionary algorithms as you likely don't deal with the other aspects of optimization theory (e.g. the algorithms mentioned above).