DH_FFP and RANK_FFP: Solving Constraint Satisfaction Problems Via Ordering the Domain Values

Fail First Principle (FFP) is a general heuristic algorithm (for solving constraint satisfaction problems) considering the order of variables. However, FFP neglects the order of values in domains. In this paper, we describe two algorithms, DH_FFP and Rank_FFP based on FFP. DH_FFP partitions a domain recursively with the middle value after choosing the variable that has the smallest domain. Rank_FFP makes use of the heuristic information between variables and constraints, evaluating and ranking every partition of a domain. We implemented these two algorithms and embedded into the constraint solving platform "Ming Yue SOLVER 1.0" designed by us. The experimental results show that both DH_FFP and Rank_FFP enhance FFP to much extent on both solving efficiency and size