Foundations of Constraint Processing, CSCE 421/821 Course Administration1 Welcome Course –Foundations of Constraint Processing, CSCE 421/821 Instructor –Berthe Y. Choueiry (Shu-we-ri) –Class: Mon/Wed/Fri AvH 119 –Recitation: Mon: AvH 119 –Office hour: Wed/Fri: AvH 360 GTA –TBD Attendance sheet –Please check your name

Foundations of Constraint Processing, CSCE 421/821 Course Administration2 Pre-requisites –Contact instructor Track –Undergrads CS: Foundations, AI CE: Applications –Grad CS students: Theory track 3 credit-hours –Research intensive –Students: Committed, motivated, collegial, independent

Foundations of Constraint Processing, CSCE 421/821 Course Administration3 Meetings Regular class –AvH 119, Monday, Wednesday, Friday 3:30—4:20 pm Recitation –Avh 119, Monday, 4:30—5:20 pm, scheduled as necessary –Discuss homework, take quizzes, discuss projects Lectures will be given –By instructor –By visitors TBA –Occasionally, presentations by students

Foundations of Constraint Processing, CSCE 421/821 Course Administration4 Communications Course WebPage: handouts & detailed scheduleCourse WebPage Blackboad: for grades. Check regularly and alert us about grading errors within 7 calendar days.Blackboad Piazza: For a quick response, send your questions to Piazza.Piazza handin: homework, projects, reports, etc.handin Wiki: You can upload the Excel file of the results of your homework on the wiki and check the results of others so that you can debug your code.Wiki Anonymous Suggestion Box (also via Piazza)Anonymous Suggestion Box Your Catch: Share your ideas and good pointers with classYour Catch –Good pointers will be listed on the web under “Your catch”

Foundations of Constraint Processing, CSCE 421/821 Course Administration5 Expectations I Mastery of pre-requisite's material Effort outside classroom –9 hours of work outside classroom, if you have pre- requisites –If you spend more time, let me know Attendance –Sign-up sheet circulated for attendance –Attendance of lectures (& recitation) is mandatory –Absence: maximum 6 sessions (including recitation) –Prior notification ( ) for absence is mandatory

Foundations of Constraint Processing, CSCE 421/821 Course Administration6 Expectations 2 Collaboration policy –Do discuss everything with others –But do it on your own –Always acknowledge sources & help received –Wiki page is set up for exchanging information Prompt response to notifications –Piazza –Posted on web: cse.unl.edu/~cse421 cse.unl.edu/~choueiry/F / If you drop the class, let me know ASAP

Foundations of Constraint Processing, CSCE 421/821 Course Administration7 Grading Pretest: 2% Quizzes: 28%, cannot not be made up Assignments: 40% –Programming and pen+paper –Turned-in on due date, before lecture –Delay penality: 20% per day, starting first minute after deadline –You may use any programming language acceptable to GTA’s Project: 30% –Individual (preferred) or in small teams (if really necessary) (  mid-term)  (  final) Feedback: –Glossaries and HWK will be graded –Grades will be posted on Blackboard –Need more feedback? Please, let us know how

Foundations of Constraint Processing, CSCE 421/821 Special for Undergrads You can ask to replace project w/ more homework Course Administration8

Foundations of Constraint Processing, CSCE 421/821 Course Administration9 Projects A list of possible projects is forthcoming, will include –Implement the game of Clue –Implement and evaluate an algorithm –Model and solve a (simple) practical problem –Investigate an advanced theoretical concept –Conduct a critical literature survey (at least 3 papers), etc. Alternatives –Propose your own project and discuss it with instructor At the end of project, you must submit with handin: –Project report: -report.ext –Slides: -defense.ext –Code: -code.tar

Foundations of Constraint Processing, CSCE 421/821 Course Administration10 Improving your grades * Do the glossaries: weekly & final (8% total) –Must be typewritten, alphabetically sorted –Goal: entice you to do required reading Collect bonus points –100% attendance –Find bugs in slides, in lectures –Fill the course end of course –Be vocal in class, solve “riddles”, etc. Do extra work –Present a research paper (10% per presentation) –Write a critical summary of a research paper (5% per summary) –Write a chapter of a “textbook” (20% total) * Restrictions apply (deadlines, max number per student)

Foundations of Constraint Processing, CSCE 421/821 Course Administration11 Important dates Regularly check schedule on the web (3 times/week) Fri, Aug 28 –Pretest over 235 material Wed, Oct 28 –Project must be chosen, use handin Wed, Nov 18 –Progress report on projects due, use handin Fri, Nov 20 –First deadline for extra-credit work: 1 presentation, 2 summaries, 1 chapter write-up must be done by this date Fri, Dec 4 –Final glossary due –Project reports due in print and using handin –Second deadline for extra-credit work: All paper presentations (Max 2), summaries (Max 4), chapter write-up (Max 2) must be done by this date

Foundations of Constraint Processing, CSCE 421/821 Important Dates (cont.) Regularly check schedule on the web (2, 3 times/week) Mon, Nov 30; Wed, Dec 2; Fri Dec 5 – Quizzes may be given during class or recitation Dead week & Mon, Dec 14 –Project presentations –Some presentations could be scheduled in evenings if necessary Fri, Dec 11 (midnight) –Projects code & defense slides (when applicable) due, use handin Course Administration12

Foundations of Constraint Processing, CSCE 421/821 Course Administration13 Course material Content of the course –Introduction: definition and practical examples –Foundations and basic mechanisms –Advanced solving techniques –Extensions to the problem definition –Alternative approaches to solving the problem Course support –New textbook by Dechter (available at bookstore). Will not be followed linearly, but should be used for reference. –Book by Tsang (on reserve at LL, available on-line, out of print) –Constraint Networks, ebook by –Papers from: WWW, course web-page, library, electronic reserves, instructor, etc.

Foundations of Constraint Processing, CSCE 421/821 Course Administration14 More resources Web –Check links: –Benchmark problems –Association for Constraint Programming Conferences –CP, AIOR, IJCAI, ECAI, NCAI (AAAI), FLAIRS... –Workshops in parallel to conferences Journals: –Constraints, AIJ, JACM, Annals of AI+Math, etc.

Foundations of Constraint Processing, CSCE 421/821 Course Administration15 Your future: Jobs!! Commercial companies: Ilog, i2 Technologies, Trilogy, PeopleSoft/Red Pepper, Carmen Systems (Sweden), etc. Prestigious research centers: NASA Ames, Microsoft Research (Cambridget), PARC, JPL, SRI International, BT Labs (UK), Ilog (IBM?), etc. Start your own: Selectica, Seibel, Parc Technologies Ltd, In Time Systems Inc, Blue Pumpkin, etc. Academic: –Constraint languages –Modeling, constraint representation, reasoning & propagation mechanisms –Dedicated reasoning: diagnosis, planning & scheduling, design, configuration, Case-Based Reasoning, etc.