This volume contains the papers presented at the 8th International Symposium on Experimental
Algorithms (SEA 2009).The symposium was held at the Te- nische Universit at Dortmund Germany
during June 4 6 2009. The main theme of the SEA series is the role of experimentation and of
algorithm engineering techniques in the design and evaluation of algorithms and data
structures. Contributions are supported by experimental evaluation methodological issues in
the design and interpretation of experiments the use of (meta-)heuristics or
application-driven case studies that deepen the und- standing of a problem s complexity. For
each symposium papers are solicited from all areas of algorithmic engineering research.
Previous meetings under the name of Workshop on Experimental Al- rithms (WEA) were held in
Riga (Latvia 2001) Ascona (Switzerland 2003) Angra dos Reis (Brazil 2004) Santorini
(Greece 2005) Menorca Island (Spain 2006) Rome (Italy 2007) and Provincetown (USA 2008).
The ProgramCommittee ofSEA 2009received64 submissions.Eachsubm- sion was reviewed by at least
three ProgramCommittee members and evaluated on its quality originality and relevance to the
symposium. Overall the Program Committee wrote249 reviews with the help of almost 100 trusted
external ref- ees. The Committee selected 23 papers leading to an acceptance rate of 35.9%.
The decision process was made electronically using the EasyChair conference management system.
In additionto the accepted contributions this volumealso containsabstracts ofthe invitedtalks
givenby Heinz Bast(Intel) MichaelA. Bender (Stony Brook University and Tokutek Inc.) and
Marc Schoenauer (INRIA Saclay Ile-de- France).
