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PrefaceThis is a book about scheduling algorithms. The first such algorithms were formulated in the mid fifties. Since then there has been a growing interest in scheduling. During the seventies, computer scientists discovered scheduling as a tool for improving the performance of computer systems. Furthermore, scheduling problems have been investigated and classified with respect to their computational complexity. During the last few years, new and interesting scheduling problems have been formulated in connection with flexible manufacturing.Most parts of the book are devoted to the discussion of polynomial algorithms. In addition, enumerative procedures based on branch & bound concepts and dynamic programming, as well as local search algorithms, are presented.The book can be viewed as consisting of three parts. The first part, Chapters 1 through 3, covers basics like an introduction to and classification of scheduling problems, methods of combinatorial optimization that are relevant for the solution procedures, and computational complexity theory.The second part, Chapters 4 through 6, covers classical scheduling algorithms for solving single machine problems, parallel machine problems, and shop scheduling problems.The third and final part, Chapters 7 through 11, is devoted to problems discussed in the more recent literature in connection with flexible manufacturing, such as scheduling problems with due dates and hatching. Also, multiprocessor task scheduling is discussed.Since it is not possible to cover the whole area of scheduling in one book, some restrictions are imposed. Firstly, in this book only machine or processor scheduling problems are discussed. Secondly, some interesting topics like cyclic scheduling, scheduling problems with finite input and/or output buffers, and general resource constrained scheduling problems are not covered in this book.I am indebted to many people who have helped me greatly in preparing this book. Students in my courses during the last three years at the Uni-vi Preface versity of Osnabriick have given many suggestions for improving earlier versions of this material. The following people read preliminary drafts of all or part of the book and made constructive comments:

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