Original and Optimization is a mathematical discipline that concerns the finding of minimum and maximum of functions, subject to so-called constraints. Optimization originated in the 1940s, when George Dantzig used mathematical techniques for generating "programs" (training timetables and schedules) for military application. Since then, his "linear programming" techniques and their descendants were applied to a wide variety of problems, from the scheduling of production facilities, to yield management in airlines.
A variety of computation techniques compete for the best solution. In recent years, it has become clear that different application domains lend themselves to different solution techniques. Linear programming has been applied to discrete optimization using so-called "branch-and-bound" techniques, for example to solve facility location problems. Heuristic search aims at finding good but not necessarily optimal solutions quickly.