Constraint Programming

[sb89]

I'm in my 3rd year at university studying Computer Science. I know Java quite well, know some C and php too.

I'm trying to think of a project to do for 4th year. One of my ideas involves constraint programming.

Has anyone used constraint programming before? Is it difficult to get to grips with?

[Myn]

I'm in the same situation, about to come back from placement to go into final year Comp Sci. Where abouts are you studying?

Never used constraint programming myself, to be honest I've sometimes struggled with the idea of declarative programming. Best bet would probably to check out some of the Java libraries and see how you find some programs.

[sb89]

I'm in the same situation, about to come back from placement to go into final year Comp Sci. Where abouts are you studying?

Never used constraint programming myself, to be honest I've sometimes struggled with the idea of declarative programming. Best bet would probably to check out some of the Java libraries and see how you find some programs.

I'm studying at Aberdeen University.

I'm one of those people who aren't really that creative so I think it's gonna be really difficult to to come up with an idea for a suitable project. I'm going through ideas just now so I'm prepared for it when the time comes.

I don't want to end up stuck with a recommendation from my advisor that I don't really like doing.

[andyn]

Well I think whether or not Constraint Programming is appropriate depends on the problem you are trying to solve. No point just saying 'I want to do something with Constraint Programming', really you need to choose the tool (ie programming language) which is most appropriate for the problem domain.

Constraint Programming I understand is languages like Prolog. Basically that's the domain of artificial intelligence programming (expert systems). So if you're trying to something in this arena, then it would make sense.

[sb89]

Well I think whether or not Constraint Programming is appropriate depends on the problem you are trying to solve. No point just saying 'I want to do something with Constraint Programming', really you need to choose the tool (ie programming language) which is most appropriate for the problem domain.

Constraint Programming I understand is languages like Prolog. Basically that's the domain of artificial intelligence programming (expert systems). So if you're trying to something in this arena, then it would make sense.

I think thinking about doing a timetabling system e.g. given rooms with certain features and have to best fit in classes with certain requirements (size, projector etc).

[Myn]

Certainly doable without constraint programming, but would probably be a relatively simple program to implement for a first program. You might want to look at something with room for expansion, that way you can a) implement more features if you finish a lot sooner than expected, and b) talk about future development of the system.