Building Decision Support Systems

Intelligent decision support systems, or IDSS, are the subject of this guide, which shows how to construct one using MiniZinc, a no-cost, open-source language for constraint programming. Anyone running such a project needs a grasp of how the system is designed and how it behaves, and the book supplies that foundation.

The text explains the nature of combinatorial optimisation problems and shows how creating a model of a problem paves the way to a solution. It surveys the principal algorithms used to tackle decision support problems, weighing the advantages and drawbacks of each, and considers how to keep these approaches workable as problems grow large. Readers can test the ideas on model applications and puzzles as they go.

The book also looks at the value an IDSS can bring once deployed, along with the main risks that come with it and the techniques that can reduce them. It aims to give readers enough understanding of the technology to oversee or monitor a project, and to tell sound reasoning apart from empty buzzwords when speaking with people involved in a project, from salespeople to the engineers who implement the software.

The book is aimed at graduate students and advanced professionals who want to learn how to build an IDSS and work through the difficulties that arise along the way.