AbstractA simple unified approach for dealing with constraints on real‐valued parameters in computer simulations and computer animation is described. The main characteristics of the approach are its flexibility (it works for a variety of constraint‐types and it can be implemented to handle both under‐ and over‐constrained systems in a stable way) and its ease for distributed computation. The method is based on the idea of genetic algorithms. The mathematical merits of the method for one constraint‐type are discussed in some detail and some examples of applications