Classical techniques

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an introduction to three classical search techniques—branch and bound, dynamic programming and network flow programming—all of which have a well established record in the solution of both classical and practical problems. All three have their origins in, or prior to, the 1950s and were the result of a surge in interest in the use of mathematical techniques for the solution of practical problems. The timing was in part due to developments in Operations Research in World War II, but was also spurred by increasing competition in the industrial sector and the promise of readily accessible computing power in the foreseeable future.