A Developer's Guide to Finding Optimal Solutions

by Barry Stahl

Sat, Apr 16, 2016
Room: Rapson 54
Time: 1:00

Solving problems that have more than one possible solution is something every developer will be asked to do over the course of his or her career. Figuring out the best way to utilize the capacity of a device or machine, finding the shortest path between two points, or determining the best way to schedule people or events are all problems where mathematical optimization techniques can be used to quickly and efficiently find solutions.

In this introduction to mathematical optimization designed specifically for software developers, we will explore some of the foundational techniques for solving these types of problems, and add several of these methods to your toolbox so that you can put them to work for your customers. Since this is a session for developers, we'll keep it in terms that work best for us. That is, we'll go heavy on the code and lighter on the math.

About the Author

Barry is a .NET Software Engineer who has been creating business solutions for enterprise customers for more than 25 years. Barry is also an Election Integrity Activist, baseball and hockey fan, husband of one genius and father of another, and a 30+ year resident of Phoenix Arizona USA. When Barry is not traveling around the world to speak at Conferences, Code Camps and User Groups or to participate in GiveCamps, he spends his days as Principal Application Architect for Crew Systems at American Airlines, the worlds largest airline, and his nights thinking about the next Arizona GiveCamp, an annual event where software developers come together to build websites and apps for some great non-profit organizations.

You can follow Barry on Twitter @bsstahl or read his blog at http://www.cognitiveinheritance.com.