Algorithm for creating a school timetable

Question

I\'ve been wondering if there are known solutions for algorithm of creating a school timetable. Basically, it\'s about optimizing \"hour-dispersion\" (both in teachers and

Answer 1

UPDATE: from comments ... should have heuristics too!

I'd go with Prolog ... then use Ruby or Perl or something to cleanup your solution into a prettier form.

teaches(Jill,math).
teaches(Joe,history).

involves(MA101,math).
involves(SS104,history).

myHeuristic(D,A,B) :- [test_case]->D='<';D='>'.
createSchedule :- findall(Class,involves(Class,Subject),Classes),
                  predsort(myHeuristic,Classes,ClassesNew),
                  createSchedule(ClassesNew,[]).
createSchedule(Classes,Scheduled) :- [the actual recursive algorithm].

I am (still) in the process of doing something similar to this problem but using the same path as I just mentioned. Prolog (as a functional language) really makes solving NP-Hard problems easier.