Constraint programming is like an octopus spreading its tentacles into databases operations
research artificial intelligence and many other areas. The concept of constraint programming
was introduced in artificial intelligence and graphics in the 1960s and 1970s. Now the related
techniques are used and studied in many fields of computing. Different aspects of constraint
processing are investigated in theoretical computer science logic programming knowledge
representation operations research and related application domains. Constraint programming
has been included in the lists of related topics of many conferences. Nevertheless only in
1993 were the first forums held devoted as a whole to this field of knowledge. These were the
First Workshop on Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming (PPCP'93) which was held in
Newport Rhode Island USA April 28-30 the International Workshop on Constraint Processing
(at CSAM'93) held in St. Petersburg Russia July 20-21 and the NATO Advanced Study Institute
(NATO AS!) on Constraint Programming held in Parnu Estonia August 13-24. NATO A Sis are aimed
to be schools bringing together leading researchers and practitioners from industry and
academia in some area of knowledge to provide a concise picture of the work done and results
obtained by different groups. This is intended for dissemination of advanced knowledge not yet
taught regularly in of new topics university. However ASis must also encourage the
introduction into university curricula as well as foster international scientific contacts.
