WHAT’S SPECIAL?

Mathematical programming techniques have been invented and applied for more than half a century, so by now they represent a relatively mature area of applied mathematics. There is not much new that can be said in an introductory textbook regarding the underlying concepts. The innovations in this book can be found instead in the delivery and elaboration of certain topics, making them accessible and understandable to the novice. The most distinctive of these features are as follows.

• The major topics are not illustrated merely with a series of numerical examples. Instead, the chapters introduce a classification for the problem types. An early example is the organization of basic linear programming models in Chapter 2 along the lines of allocation, covering, and blending models. This classification strategy, which extends throughout the book, helps the student to see beyond the particular examples to the breadth of possible applications.