Article ID: | iaor20101527 |
Volume: | 175 |
Issue: | 1 |
Start Page Number: | 37 |
End Page Number: | 76 |
Publication Date: | Mar 2010 |
Journal: | Annals of Operations Research |
Authors: | Wallace Mark, Milano Michela |
This paper presents Constraint Programming as a natural formalism for modelling problems, and as a flexible platform for solving them. CP has a range of techniques for handling constraints including several forms of propagation and tailored algorithms for global constraints. It also allows linear programming to be combined with propagation and novel and varied search techniques which can be easily expressed in CP. The paper describes how CP can be used to exploit linear programming within different kinds of hybrid algorithm. In particular it can enhance techniques such as Lagrangian relaxation, Benders decomposition and column generation.