Applications of Mathematical Programming—Before,Now and After

Linear programming and its variants have been used for over 30 years, and during this time there have been technological and theoretical developments which have given the modeller enormous computer power and flexibility. Have these been matched in application—are the models being used?This paper attempts to look at the overall applied nature of linear programming—what has happened, what is happening and what is likely to happen. It draws on evidence from many sources including surveys, the literature and informal comments. The results indicate the growth in real application and power of the latest computer packages. However, there are still some problems remaining, and an attempt is made to highlight barriers to implementation.