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Hi,
We know about the Lorry Loading Problem!
Lorry with Cubic Size L-W-H Dimensions, and Load Capacity, and various sizes of Boxes, of various weight, all going to the same Destination. It has been shown(by someone, so have I been told) that this has No Analytic Solution, but that approximation algorithms exist. (That is, algorithms that get it right Most, but not All of the time)
I have a Similar (much smaller) Problem. I want to Print a Number of Orders in fixed pitch font on A4 Pages. The orders have each Different Number of lines, and we want to organise the printing in such a way that the minimum amount of paper is used.
We Know how many lines will fit on a Page. (say 80)
Any ideas on how to approach this by form of algorithm?
No, this is not an exam question. I do no longer sit exams! When I went to University 45 years ago, Computer studies did not exist.
I am just a self taught programmer, who is getting stuck.
Any help or pointer to literature is appreciated.
Bram van Kampen
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Without using a neural network, which this problem is designed for, I would get the largest order for the available space, or put the largest orders on each page then fill the rest with smaller orders.
This does not take into account that 2 medium sized orders may be a better fit than a large + a small order. That is where the neural network would do a good job.
And I think this should probably be in a forum other than the Lounge
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity
RAH
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Hi,
That is helpful, I had been thinking along the same lines myself. I do not think that a neural network would be justified, it is just that that solution you describe, sometimes gives stupid results.
It is all te same a not uncommon problem. I had hoped that someone smart somewhere would have written something smart about this.
About the choice of Forum: Suggest another please?
Thanks + Regards
Bram van Kampen
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Bram van Kampen wrote: sometimes gives stupid results
Especially with small data sets. I have a requirement where I have to hedge a trade against a HUGE selection of other trades, so it works very well for me. 
Bill identified the correct forums except I would not venture into Q&A bleh!
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity
RAH
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 good luck with that question in the Lounge....
It is an interesting 3D programming problem...but it is a programming problem and it is in the lounge, I suggest you read the guidelines at the top before you are nuked out of here...
Ken
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Well Ken,
It is a General Computing Problem, (Independent of Languages or Systems) So, I think this is the forum to rise such Question. Of course, like as in any lounge, if you do not like the conversation, you do not have to partake. In a physical lounge you might be affected by loud voices. You are saved from that in this lounge.
Regards, and sorry to have offended you,
Bram van Kampen
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You did not offend in the slightest. I find it an interesting problem, but have been a bit amazed at the roastings some have been given for posting programming problems in the lounge, and only wanted to give some fair warning...
Ken
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There are the "Design and Architecture" and "Algorithms" forums here which are appropriate place this question could go, in addition to QA, and, it is a programming question which is not appropriate for the Lounge.
«There is a spectrum, from "clearly desirable behaviour," to "possibly dodgy behavior that still makes some sense," to "clearly undesirable behavior." We try to make the latter into warnings or, better, errors. But stuff that is in the middle category you don’t want to restrict unless there is a clear way to work around it.» Eric Lippert, May 14, 2008
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Hi,
Thanks for directing me to the proper forum.
Bram van Kampen
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Regarding an alternate forum, you may want to try this one[^] or this one[^]. I think you might get a faster response at the latter, being that it's not a C#, ASP .NET or JS question. Good luck!
/ravi
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BillWoodruff wrote: Algorithms"
Thanks for pointing that one out.
Peter Wasser
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell
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Never heard of it called "Lorry Loading Problem" I hear of it as the "Knapsack/Backpack Problem" or "Bin Packing Problem".
It was on my mind again today in regards to optimizing the number of threads required to perform a number of tasks that require various amounts of time to complete.
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(Programming question or not, I do not find it offensive, as it can be seen as an invitation to a discussion. And when you have solved it you can tell us what you did. No rule against programming answers! )
I would look at it the other way. To waste as little space as possible. If you manage to fill one page precisely, thats a small victory on the way...
... such stuff as dreams are made on
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You could totally randomise the selection and run thousands of tries and see which one comes out best.
Its a shotgun approach, but simple.
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Bram van Kampen wrote: It has been shown(by someone, so have I been told) that this has No Analytic Solution, but that approximation algorithms exist.
I would like to see that proof. Why should it not work to build a tree of all combinations and select the path through the tree which leads to the best result? Depending on the number of possibilities this may be slow, but it would always find the best result.
The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a f***ing golf cart.
"I don't know, extraterrestrial?"
"You mean like from space?"
"No, from Canada."
If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.
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Hi,
You either did not read the original question, or, did not understand the word :Analythical.
It means "By Logical Derivaten"
Any Finite Problem can be dealt with by a Finite number of tries!
As a Trivial Example.:
How is 48/12 actually caculated.
Well, there is an Algorithm, Euclides Algorithm of Division.
The Other way is to start a Tree of Trying things
Think about this example Long and Very hard. If you studied Maths, you'll see the Problem immediately
I Never said that the Lorry Problem could not be solved.
It has been proven that it never can be solved by a Formula, however complex!
Ever heard of a bloke called Evariste Galois?
Bram van Kampen
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Ok, got it. Finding your way through a large set by sorting and eliminating 'wrong' branches is not analytical. It is an algorithm, but a crude and time consuming one. If you have no hint in a tree of possibilities that helps you to find the one you are looking for, then you have no choice than to follow each branch in the tree to the end and compare the results.
That's how computers play chess, but only looks ahead a few moves, otherwise it would not make its move until the end of the universe.
How about a real problem that makes you rich if you can provide an adequately good solution. Logistics. Try to coordinate a fleet of trucks and make a time and cost efficient schedule where the trucks have to be at what time to pick up or deliver cargo. You have to be on time and must of course keep in mind wether or not a truck can transport a particular cargo or has enough room left. A single truck that gets delayed or has an accident may kill the entire plan, just as any single new job that must be inserted into the plan might.
Now we need a new schedule. At once, because our trucks out there don't stand still and the whole situation changes every second. I don't care wether my algorithm is analytical or not. That's an academical problem. I do care about the algorithm being far too slow. That's a very practical problem that can make you rich.
The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a f***ing golf cart.
"I don't know, extraterrestrial?"
"You mean like from space?"
"No, from Canada."
If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.
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I've heard some complaints about Visual Studio 2015 creating hundreds of files on new ASP.NET MVC projects.
Today I installed some packages through npm, 13 MB and over 5000 files! 
I think Gulp downloaded the most packages by far.
Visual Studio could learn a thing or two from that...
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Sander Rossel wrote: over 5000 files!
It could be worse:
When I followed the instructions in the official quickstart the installation created 32,000 files in my project.
I figured this is some mistake or I missed something, so I decided to use angular-cli, but after setting up the project I counted 41,000 files.
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer
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How is that even possible?
Unless some idiot (and I knew one) thinks that "re-use" and "single responsibility" means that every file should have a single method 
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This day in age, it's important we have 5,000 files to print "Hello world." Because you know, it's the size that matters.
Jeremy Falcon
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That's what she said.
#SupportHeForShe
Government can give you nothing but what it takes from somebody else. A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take everything you've got, including your freedom.-Ezra Taft Benson
You must accept 1 of 2 basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe or we are not alone. Either way, the implications are staggering!-Wernher von Braun
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Yep - the VS team have lost the plot.
It used to be about writing code. Lots of focus on focusing on the code.
Now it's a battle just to get the IDE, libraries, helper services, backend node servers and all the other debris under control.
I get the benefits - I really do - but they need to step back and ask themselves some hard questions.
cheers
Chris Maunder
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I ventured into MVC on Thursday, wanted to create a web API service, selected the web api template and oh look someone crapped in my IDE. Spend the next 30 minutes clearing out the rubbish (as I said venturing) before I can even start!
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity
RAH
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The minimum VS installation is 6GB(!). It's pretty insane.
But it seems they realized that too, because the newest version only requires 500 MB[^]
Of course you can still opt for the gazillion tools for development in millions of ecosystems.
I like that it comes out of the box though, although it does make it a bit too heavy for my older machine...
I started using Sublime Text last week for some JavaScript code, needed to spend an hour to get some plugins installed before the editor even started to make sense
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