Journal of the ACM (JACM)
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One of the characteristic problems involved in design is geometric arrangement. Components must be fitted onto a circuit card, or rooms must be fitted together to form a livable house, subject to certain constraints. These arrangement problems appear particularly difficult when viewed from the stand point of the traditional tools of mathematical analysis, analytical geometry, differential calculus, etc. However, there are various combinatorial procedures and algorithms, which are suitable for programming on a computer for dealing with such problems. There are also numerous design problems in which the basic requirements involve connectivity, rather than packing. For example, the elements may be located on the printed circuit card, but the interconnecting wires must be fitted in to make specified contacts, with desired side-constraints involving minimum length, or minimum over crossing, or other economic criteria. The electrical wiring or plumbing conduits for a building involve the same type of considerations.