Understanding and Using Linear Programming

From the contents:

Preliminary

- 1 What Is It, and What For?

- 2 Examples

- 3 Integer Programming and LP Relaxation

- 4 Theory of Linear Programming: First Steps

- 5 The Simplex Method

- 6 Duality of Linear Programming

- 7 Not Only the Simplex Method

- 8 More Applications

- 9 Software and Further Reading.

From the reviews: "The authors' guiding phrase is 'what every theoretical computer scientist should know about linear programming'. ... this book is easy and pleasant reading. A number of examples and illustrations are provided throughout the book. ... The book is well written and well organized; I recommend it to undergraduate students and also to 'pure mathematicians' ... . I recommend this book to computer scientists and mathematicians willing to learn the fundamentals of linear programming, and some of its many applications." (Fabio Mainardi, MAA Online, February, 2007) "If you are looking for a concise and well-written overview of linear programming, then this may be the book for you. ... The book is appropriate for nontheoretical computer scientists as well ... . MatouSek and Gärtner's Understanding and Using Linear Programming is a well-written introduction to the subject. ... an excellent choice for anyone with a working knowledge of linear algebra who wants to learn more about the history and theory of linear programming, as it is written clearly and has a lively spirit." (Nancy C. Weida, SIAM Review, Vol. 49 (4), 2007) "Focus in this interesting and recommendable textbook is on geometry and duality as well as on different solution algorithms for linear programming problems. The structure of the feasible set is explained and the relations between its vertices and basic feasible solutions are shown. ... Both the ellipsoid and the interior point methods can be found in the textbook. The theory is complemented by many examples both from applications and relaxations of integer linear programming problems." (Stephan Dempe, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1133 (11), 2008)