A genetic algorithm (GA) is a stochastic direct search strategy that mimics the process of genetic evolution. The GA applied herein works on a population of structural designs at any one time, and uses a structured information exchange based on the principles of natural selection and wurvival of the fittest to recombine the most desirable features of the designs over a sequence of generations until the process converges to a "maximum fitness" design. Principles of genetics are adapted into a search procedure for structural optimization. The methods consist of three genetics operations mainly named selection, cross- over and mutation. In this study, a method of finding the optimum topology of truss/beam structure is pro- posed by using the GA. In order to use GA in the optimum topology problem, chromosomes to FEM elements are assigned, and a penalty function is used to include constraints into fitness function. The results show that the GA has the potential to be an effective tool for the optimal design of structures accounting for sizing, geometrical and topological variables.variables.