Programming by optimisation: Computer-aided design of high-performance algorithms for hard combinatorial problems

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

High-performance algorithms for solving hard computational problems are found at the core of many complex software systems used in real-world applications. The overall goal of my research is to develop and establish a paradigm for the development of such algorithms that I call "programming by optimisation (PBO)". The key idea behind this paradigm is for human experts to specify not an algorithm, but a potentially large design space of algorithms, and to use automated methods to find performance-optimised algorithms within this space. This approach allows human experts to focus on the creative task of thinking about possible mechanisms for solving given problems; at the same time, once a rich and potentially large design space has been specified, the automated search for a performance-optimised algorithm within it can be specific to a particular type of input, such that custom-optimised designs for different application situations can be obtained with minimal human effort.