Did you know that CPLEX has two industry-leading optimizers?
IBM® ILOG CPLEX – Optimization Studio installation directory has two folders under the ‘Python Example.’ One is MP, and the other is CP. So, what are MP and CP? And why are the examples divided into separate folders?
MP is short for Mathematical Programming, and CP is short for Constraint Programming. Mathematical Programming starts with operation research. The Simplex algorithm, invented by George Dantzig in 1947, became the basis for the entire field of mathematical optimization and provided the first practical method to solve a linear programming problem.
While Constraint programming takes its root from and can be expressed in the form of constraint logic programming, which embeds constraints into a logic program, this variant of logic programming is due to Jaffar and Lassez, who extended in 1987 a specific class of limitations that were introduced in Prolog II.
IBM ILOG CPLEX MP optimizer evolved to embrace, and become a leader in, the children categories of linear programming, such as integer programming, mixed integer programming, and quadratic programming. IBM ILOG CPLEX CP Optimizer is another necessary and essential complement to the optimization specialists’ toolbox for solving real-world operational planning and scheduling problems.
This table explains the feature differences between MP and CP.
From: http://ibmdecisionoptimization.github.io/docplex-doc/mp_vs_cp.html
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