Lab: Greedy Optimization

Overview

In this lab, you will work with a greedy change command-line tool and a traveling salesman algorithm. You will modify the command-line tool, reflect on its robustness, and explore ways to enhance the scripts.

Goals

By the end of this lab, you will:

1. Understand how to modify command-line tools for improved robustness.
2. Learn how to enhance scripts for better performance and functionality.

Tasks

A. Run the greedy change command-line tool

1. Run the greedy change command-line tool: python greedy_coin.py 1.50

2. Change the code to have a flag for dollars and flag for cents, i.e., --dollars and --cents.

Reflection question: Is this version of the command-line tool more robust against errors?

Reflection question: What could you build to enhance this script? Do it and add it to your portfolio.

B. Run the traveling salesman algorithm

1. Run the traveling salesman algorithm: python tsp.py simulate

2. What is the optimal number of simulations to run?