Scheduling, vehicle routing and timetabling are all examples of constraint problems, and methods to solve them rely on the idea of constraint propagation and search. With the insertion of constraint techniques into programming environments new developments have accelerated the solution process: constraint programming combines ideas from artificial intelligence, programming languages, databases, and operational research. This book meets the need for a modern, multidisciplinary introduction covering both foundations and applications. Written by a leading figure in the subject, it will be welcomed by graduate students and professionals.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
1. Introduction; 2. Constraint satisfaction problems: Examples; 3. Constraint programming in a nutshell; 4. Some complete constraint solvers; 5. Local consistency notions; 6. Some incomplete constraint solvers; 7. Constraint propagation algorithms; 8. Search; 9. General programming issues; Bibliography; Index.
