Handbook of Constraint Programming

Foundations of Artificial Intelligence, Vol. 2, Suppl. (C), 2006

ISSN: 1574-6526

doi: 10.1016/S1574-6526(06)80008-8

Chapter 4 Backtracking Search Algorithms

Peter van Beek

There are three main algorithmic techniques for solving constraint satisfaction problems: backtracking search, local search, and dynamic programming. In this chapter, I survey backtracking search algorithms. Algorithms based on dynamic programming [15]— sometimes referred to in the literature as variable elimination, synthesis, or inference algorithms—are the topic of Chapter 7. Local or stochastic search algorithms are the topic of Chapter 5.

An algorithm for solving a constraint satisfaction problem (CSP) can be either complete or incomplete. Complete, or systematic ...