Essentials of Constraint Programming

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-IX

   PDF

2. Introduction

   1. Introduction

      • Thom Frühwirth, Slim Abdennadher

      Pages 1-3

3. Constraint Programming

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 5-5

      PDF

   2. Algorithm = Logic + Control

      • Thom Frühwirth, Slim Abdennadher

      Pages 7-8

   3. Preliminaries of Syntax and Semantics

      • Thom Frühwirth, Slim Abdennadher

      Pages 9-11

   4. Logic Programming

      • Thom Frühwirth, Slim Abdennadher

      Pages 13-21

   5. Constraint Logic Programming

      • Thom Frühwirth, Slim Abdennadher

      Pages 23-30

   6. Concurrent Constraint Logic Programming

      • Thom Frühwirth, Slim Abdennadher

      Pages 31-40

   7. Constraint Handling Rules

      • Thom Frühwirth, Slim Abdennadher

      Pages 41-49

4. Constraint Systems

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 51-51

      PDF

   2. Constraint Systems and Constraint Solvers

      • Thom Frühwirth, Slim Abdennadher

      Pages 53-62

   3. Boolean Algebra B

      • Thom Frühwirth, Slim Abdennadher

      Pages 63-68

   4. Rational Trees RT

      • Thom Frühwirth, Slim Abdennadher

      Pages 69-75

   5. Linear Polynomial Equations ℜ

      • Thom Frühwirth, Slim Abdennadher

      Pages 77-82

   6. Finite Domains FD

      • Thom Frühwirth, Slim Abdennadher

      Pages 83-92

   7. Non-linear Equations I

      • Thom Frühwirth, Slim Abdennadher

      Pages 93-97

5. Applications

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 99-99

      PDF

   2. Market Overview

      • Thom Frühwirth, Slim Abdennadher

      Pages 101-103

   3. Optimal Sender Placement for Wireless Communication

      • Thom Frühwirth, Slim Abdennadher

      Pages 105-110

   4. The Munich Rent Advisor

      • Thom Frühwirth, Slim Abdennadher

      Pages 111-115

The use of constraints had its scientific and commercial breakthrough in the 1990s. Programming with constraints makes it possible to model and specify problems with uncertain, incomplete information and to solve combi­ natorial problems, as they are abundant in industry and commerce, such as scheduling, planning, transportation, resource allocation, layout, design, and analysis. This book is a short, concise, and complete presentation of constraint programming and reasoning, covering theoretical foundations, algorithms, implementations, examples, and applications. It is based on more than a decade of experience in teaching and research about this subject. This book is intended primarily for graduate students, researchers, and practitioners in diverse areas of computer science and related fields, including programming languages, computational logic, symbolic computation, and ar­ tificial intelligence. The book is complemented by a web-page with teaching material, software, links, and more. We take the reader on a step-by-step journey through the world of constraint-based programming and constraint reasoning. Feel free to join in ... Acknowledgements Thorn thanks his wife Andrea and his daughter Anna - for everything. He dedicates his contribution to the book to the memory of his mother, Grete. Slim thanks his wife N abila and his daughters Shirine and Amira for their ongoing support and patience.

• Algorithms
• Boolean algebra
• Resolution
• Syntax
• algorithm
• communication
• logic
• programming
• programming language
• semantics

From the reviews:

"The book distinguishes itself as a concise, formal introduction to the field of constraint programming. In general, concision and precision come in pairs in this book, and the authors should be congratulated for this. … the uniform style of this book makes it easier and easier to be read. Its structure is also well designed and concocts to create a fluid presentation … . Anybody looking for a formal, essential but never shallow introduction to the field should definitely consider this book." (Rosella Gennari, Journal of Logic, Language and Information, Vol. 14, 2005) 

• Fakultät für Informatik, Universität Ulm, Ulm, Germany

  Thom Frühwirth

• Institut für Informatik, Universität München, München, Germany

  Slim Abdennadher

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