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Hybrid Problem Solving in ECLiPSe

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Constraint and Integer Programming

Part of the book series: Operations Research/Computer Science Interfaces Series ((ORCS,volume 27))

Abstract

Recent advances in merging Operations Research (OR) models and methods in Constraint Programming (CP) have stressed the need for programming language implementations which support and facilitate the development of hybrid solvers for combinatorial optimization problems. An important requirement on these implementations is that they distinguish the solver-independent conceptual model (one model for multiple solvers) from a design model which delegates subprob-lems to tailored solvers. ECLiPSe is a platform for building hybrid algorithms where different co-operative solvers are used in combination. The first part of this chapter presents some of the language ingredients which support CP-OR hybridization and how they can benefit the integration of heterogeneous solvers. The second part of the chapter illustrates ECLiPSe through an implementation of a generic hybrid algorithm applied on a general resource-constrained scheduling problem with a widely applicable objective function. We show how the hybrid search can be elegantly programmed in ECLiPSe.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Imperial College London, IC-Parc, London, UK, SW7 2AZ

    Farid Ajili & Mark G. Wallace

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  1. Farid Ajili
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  2. Mark G. Wallace
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Michela Milano

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Ajili, F., Wallace, M.G. (2004). Hybrid Problem Solving in ECLiPSe. In: Milano, M. (eds) Constraint and Integer Programming. Operations Research/Computer Science Interfaces Series, vol 27. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8917-8_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8917-8_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-4719-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-8917-8

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