Combining finite and continuous solvers
This work addresses a specific integration challenge for constraint programming developers, but it is incremental as it builds on existing solvers without introducing new paradigms.
The paper tackled the problem of combining efficiency and reliability in constraint programming systems by connecting the finite-domain solver Choco with the continuous-domain solver Ibex, enabling the use of recent continuous advances in Choco while improving software quality.
Combining efficiency with reliability within CP systems is one of the main concerns of CP developers. This paper presents a simple and efficient way to connect Choco and Ibex, two CP solvers respectively specialised on finite and continuous domains. This enables to take advantage of the most recent advances of the continuous community within Choco while saving development and maintenance resources, hence ensuring a better software quality.