CLPGUI: a generic graphical user interface for constraint logic programming over finite domains

CLPGUI is a graphical user interface for visualizing and interacting with constraint logic programs over finite domains. In CLPGUI, the user can control the execution of a CLP program through several views of constraints, of finite domain variables and of the search tree. CLPGUI is intended to be used both for teaching purposes, and for debugging and improving complex programs of realworld scale. It is based on a client-server architecture for connecting the CLP process to a Java-based GUI process. Communication by message passing provides an open architecture which facilitates the reuse of graphical components and the porting to different constraint programming systems. Arbitrary constraints and goals can be posted incrementally from the GUI. We propose several dynamic 2D and 3D visualizations of the search tree and of the evolution of finite domain variables. We argue that the 3D representation of search trees proposed in this paper provides the most appropriate visualization of large search trees. We describe the current implementation of the annotations and of the interactive execution model in GNU-Prolog, and report some evaluation results.Comment: 16 pages; Alexandre Tessier, editor; WLPE 2002, http://xxx.lanl.gov/abs/cs.SE/020705

Modern Constraint Programming Education: Lessons for the Future

This paper details an outlook on modern constraint programming (CP) education through the lens of a CP instructor. A general overview of current CP courses and instructional methods is presented, with a focus on online and virtually-delivered courses. This is followed by a discussion of the novel approach taken to introductory CP education for engineering students at large scale at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in Atlanta, GA, USA. The paper summarizes important takeaways from the Georgia Tech CP course and ends with a discussion on the future of CP education. Some ideas for instructional methods, promotional methods, and organizational changes are proposed to aid in the long-term growth of CP education.Comment: Paper and presentation for Workshop on Teaching of Constraint Programming (WTCP) 2023 as part of CP 2023, the 29th International Conference on Principles and Practice of Constraint Programmin

Choco: an Open Source Java Constraint Programming Library

International audienceChoco is a java library for constraint satisfaction problems (CSP), constraint programming (CP) and explanation-based constraint solving (e-CP). It is built on a event-based propagation mechanism with backtrackable structures

Teaching constraint programming

How do we do research? We start with a question. Then we read books, journal and conference papers, maybe even speak to people. Then we do our own work, make our own contribution, maybe coming up with an improved technique or a greater insight.We then write up our findings, maybe submit this to a conference, present our work and get feedback, and this results in further research. This is a feedback loop, open to scrutiny by our peers

Teaching constraint programming using fable-based learning

The paper presents the pedagogical innovations and experience of the co-development of three MOOCs on the subject of “Modeling and Solving Discrete Optimization Problems” by two universities. In a nutshell, the MOOCs feature the Fable-Based Learning approach, which is a form of problem-based learning encapsulated in a coherent story plot. Each lecture video begins with an animation that tells a story following a novel. The protagonists of the story encounter a problem requiring technical assistance from the two professors from modern time via a magical tablet granted to them by a fairy god. The new pedagogy aims at increasing learners' motivation and interests as well as situating the learners in a coherent learning context. In addition to scriptwriting, animation production and situating the teaching materials in the story plot, another challenge of the project is the remote distance between the two institutions as well as the need to produce all teaching materials in both (Mandarin) Chinese and English to cater for different geographic learning needs. The MOOCs have been running recurrently on Coursera since 2017. We present learner statistics and feedback, and discuss our experience with and preliminary observations of adopting the online materials in a Flipped Classroom setting