Dynamic Programming: an overview

Dynamic programing is one of the major problem-solving methodologies in a number of disciplines such as operations research and computer science. It is also a very important and powerful tool of thought. But not all is well on the dynamic programming front. There is definitely lack of commercial software support and the situation in the classroom is not as good as it should be. In this paper we take a bird's view of dynamic programming so as to identify ways to make it more accessible to students, academics and practitioners alike.