Editing AMPL (section)

{{Short description|Algebraic modeling language}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox programming language
| name = AMPL
| logo = [[File:AMPL (textbook cover).jpg]]
| caption = 
| designers = [[Robert Fourer]]<br />David Gay<br />[[Brian Kernighan]]<br/>[[Bell Labs]]
| paradigm = [[Multi-paradigm programming language|Multi-paradigm]]: [[Declarative programming|declarative]], [[Imperative programming|imperative]]
| developer = AMPL Optimization, Inc.
| released = {{Start date and age|1985}}
| latest release version = 20230430
| latest release date = {{Start date and age|df=yes|2023|04|30}}
| latest test version = 
| latest test date = 
| typing = 
| implementations = 
| dialects = 
| influenced by = [[AWK]], [[C (programming language)|C]]
| influenced = [[JuMP]], [[Pyomo]]
| operating system = [[Cross-platform]]: [[Linux]], [[macOS]], [[Solaris (operating system)|Solaris]], [[IBM AIX|AIX]], [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]]
| license = [[Proprietary software|Proprietary]] (translator),<br />[[Free and open source software|free and open-source]] (AMPL Solver Library)
| genre = [[Algebraic modeling language]] (AML)
| website = {{URL|www.ampl.com}}
| file ext = .mod, .dat, .run
}}

'''AMPL''' ('''A Mathematical Programming Language''') is an [[algebraic modeling language]] to describe and solve high-complexity problems for large-scale mathematical computing (e.g. large-scale optimization and [[automated planning and scheduling|scheduling]]-type problems).<ref name="ampl-book">
{{cite book
 | last1 = Fourer | first1 = Robert
 | last2 = Gay | first2 = David M
 | last3 = Kernighan | first3 = Brian W
 | author-link1 = Robert Fourer
 | author-link3 = Brian Kernighan
 | title = AMPL: a modeling language for mathematical programming
 | date = 2003
 | publisher = Duxbury Press/Brooks/Cole Publishing Company
 | location = USA
 | isbn = 978-0-534-38809-6
}}
</ref>
It was developed by [[Robert Fourer]], David Gay, and [[Brian Kernighan]] at [[Bell Labs|Bell Laboratories]].
AMPL supports dozens of [[solver]]s, both [[Open-source software|open source]] and [[commercial software]], including CBC, [[CPLEX]], [[FortMP]], [[MOSEK]], [[MINOS (optimization software)|MINOS]], [[IPOPT]], [[SNOPT]], [[KNITRO]], and LGO. Problems are passed to solvers as [[nl (format)|nl]] files.
AMPL is used by more than 100 corporate clients, and by government agencies and academic institutions.<ref>{{cite web
  | title=Position Available
  | url=http://www.ampl.com/OPENINGS/2011July.html#Product
  | access-date=2011-07-29
  | archive-date=11 September 2011
  | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110911191129/http://www.ampl.com/OPENINGS/2011July.html#Product
  | url-status=dead
  }}</ref>

One advantage of AMPL is the similarity of its syntax to the mathematical notation of [[Optimization (mathematics)|optimization]] problems. This allows for a very concise and readable definition of problems in the domain of [[mathematical programming|optimization]]. Many modern solvers available on the [[NEOS Server]] (formerly hosted at the [[Argonne National Laboratory]], currently hosted at the [[University of Wisconsin, Madison]]<ref name="neos-uwm">{{cite web|url=http://neos-guide.org/About/|title=About|access-date=11 August 2015}}</ref>) accept AMPL input. According to the NEOS statistics AMPL is the most popular format for representing mathematical programming problems.