This is the first chance I have had to read this. Are you demanding the optimal solution here or will any solution do?
If the optimal solution is desired then it seems to me that recasting the problem as a linear programming problem might be the best approach in terms of computational time efficiency but in terms of key strokes the brute force method would be the best approach & possibly only solution.
Your suggestion of using limited or monte-carlo searches suggests that non optimal solutions are permitted. Is this true? If so how are you balancing optimal against key stroke concerns?
I am sorry for leaping in several days into the contest but I am trying to understand what is happening & I am a bit confused.
[ 11. March 2003, 23:35: Message edited by: Jack Lothian ]
