Algorithms For Dummies

  Relying on Dynamic Programming 

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don’t agree about the name source. For example, Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig, 

in their book Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, argue that Bellman actually 

used the term dynamic programming in a paper dating 1952, which is before Wilson 

became Secretary in 1953 (and Wilson himself was CEO of General Motors before 

becoming an engineer involved in research and development).

Computer programming languages weren’t widespread during the time that Bell-

man worked in operations research, a discipline that applies mathematics to make 

better decisions when approaching mainly production or logistic problems (but is 

also used for other practical problems). Computing was at the early stages and 

used mostly for planning. The basic approach of dynamic programming is the 

same as linear  programming,  another  algorithmic  technique  (see  Chapter  19) 

defined in those years when programming meant planning a specific process to 

find an optimal solution. The term dynamic reminds you that the algorithm moves 

and stores partial solutions. Dynamic programming is a complex name for a smart 

and effective technique to improve algorithm running times.