Untitled Quiz

Operational and Structured Decisions

• Operational and structured decisions are often combinatorial in nature.
• Combinatorial problems are problems where you need to find the best combination of choices from a set of possibilities.

Decision Support System (DSS) and Analytic Programming

• Analytic Programming (AP) is a branch of computer science that focuses on developing software to solve complex decision problems.
• DSS are computer-based systems that help decision-makers in identifying and solving problems.
• AP and DSS are often used together to develop solutions for operational and strategic decisions.

Types of Decision Support System (DSS)

• Automated DSS can be used for problems that are well-defined and have limited uncertainty. Examples of application include:
  • AGV routing in an automated plant
  • Distribution management
  • Production planning

### Programming Approaches

• Procedural approach: you define the steps to get a solution (plan).
• Declarative approach: you describe the desired outcome, and the system figures out how to achieve it.

### Declarative vs. Procedural

• Declarative approach is more flexible (e.g., if a constraint changes, just modify the model).
• Procedural approach is tailored and less flexible (e.g., if a constraint changes, you have to modify the procedure); more efficient.

### Tools for Analytic Programming

• AMPL, OPL (IBM), Amply, and Pulp (Python libraries): popular tools for declarative programming.
• STRIPS, PDDL: commonly used in artificial intelligence for planning and robotics.

### Embedded Autonomous Agents

• Autonomous agents are computer programs that can act independently to achieve their goals.
• Autonomous agents used for real-time decision-making need to be fast.
• C, C++ are languages used for embedded systems due to their efficiency and control over hardware.

Tactical and Strategic Decisions

• Tactical and strategic decisions often involve more uncertainty and require historical data for analysis.
• Product/service launch, product/service advertising, and product/service pricing are examples of tactical and strategic decisions.

### Tools for Business Analytics (BA)

• Spreadsheets (Excel, ...) + various add-ins:
  • Error-prone
  • Labor-intensive
  • Cannot be integrated into larger applications
  • Cannot deal with big data

Integrated Business Intelligence and Planning Solutions

• SaS, Minitab, IBM Cognos: examples of integrated solutions for BA.
• Features: Reporting, analysis, dashboard, scorecard, planning, budgeting, forecasting.
• Used by various big companies but are not open-source and expensive.

### Open Source Options for BA

• R: open-source language for statistical computing and graphics

  • Low-level programming language
  • Free
  • Mainly used by academics

  ### Python

• Python: a high-level programming language known for:

  • Simplicity and clear syntax
  • Readability
  • "Executable" pseudocode
  • Many libraries for model building and statistical operations
  • Used by Google, Quora, Reddit, etc.
  • Open-source and free

### Applications for Python

• Business applications (E-commerce, ERPs, web scraping)
• Websites
• Instrument control
• Audio and video applications

### Python Speed

• Cython: a C/C++ wrapper for Python to increase speed.

### Using Python from the Command Line

• From the terminal, type python3.
• Use the interpreter by inserting one command at a time and pressing enter.
• Run a script and redirect the output to a file (example: >>> hello.py > output.txt).

Running Python Scripts

• You can run Python scripts from a file manager (e.g., by double-clicking on a .py file).
• IDE options include:
  • Sublime
  • Visual Studio Code
  • IDLE
  • PyCharm
  • PyDev (Eclipse for Python)

Using IDLE

• Features include:
  • Python shell window for an interactive interpreter
  • Auto-completion
  • Syntax highlighting
  • Smart indentation
  • Basic integrated debugger

### Using Jupyter

• Jupyter Notebook: a web application for creating and sharing computational documents.
  • Made up of cells with either text in markdown language or code.
  • Run code by pressing the play button in the toolbar.
• JupyterLab: the next generation of Jupyter Notebook designed to improve usability and expand its scope.
• Offers a general framework for interactive computing and data science.
• COLAB: cloud-based product from Google Research for writing and executing Python code in the browser.

### Simulation

• Tailored languages (SIMAN, …) and visual interactive modeling systems (Arena, Simio, …) are commonly used for simulation.
• Drag and drop options are available for building models visually.
• Animations can be used for model validation and demonstration.