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Salsa: A Language for Search Algorithms

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Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming — CP98 (CP 1998)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 1520))

Abstract

Constraint Programming is a technique of choice for solving hard combinatorial optimization problems. However, it is best used in conjunction with other optimization paradigms such as local search, yielding hybrid algorithms with constraints. Such combinations lack a language supporting an elegant description and retaining the original declarativity of Constraint Logic Programming. We propose a language, SALSA, dedicated to specifying (local, global or hybrid) search algorithms. We illustrate its use on a few examples from combinatorial optimization for which we specify complex optimization procedures with a few simple lines of code of high abstraction level. We report preliminary experiments showing that such a language can be implemented on top of CP systems, yielding a powerful environment for combinatorial optimization.

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© 1998 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Laburthe, F., Caseau, Y. (1998). Salsa: A Language for Search Algorithms. In: Maher, M., Puget, JF. (eds) Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming — CP98. CP 1998. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1520. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-49481-2_23

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-49481-2_23

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-65224-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-49481-2

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