Abstract
The idea of constraint-based programming is to solve problems by simply stating constraints (conditions, properties) which must be satisfied by a solution of the problem. For example, consider a bicycle number lock. We forgot the first digit, but remember some constraints about it: The digit was an odd number, greater than 1, and not a prime number. Combining the pieces of partial information expressed by these constraints (digit, greater than 1, odd, not prime) we are able to derive that the digit we are looking for is “9”.
Constraint Programming represents one of the closest approaches computer science has yet made to the Holy Grail of programming: the user states the problem, the computer solves it.
Eugene C. Freuder, Inaugural issue of the Constraints Journal, 1997
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© 2003 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Frühwirth, T., Abdennadher, S. (2003). Introduction. In: Essentials of Constraint Programming. Cognitive Technologies. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-05138-2_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-05138-2_1
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