When someone speaks of "linear programming" they are not referring to programming in the sense that someone speaks of today. When the term was introduced in the 1940's, programming was synonymous with scheduling or planning. Linear programming (LP) is a subcategory of mathematical programming.
Mathematical programming is a term which represents the maximization or minimization of objective functions. The minimization or maximization is done subject to constraints.
An objective function is the function of one or more variables that one is interested in either maximizing or minimizing. The function could represent the cost or profit of some manufacturing process.
Constraints are equalities or inequalities that describe restrictions involved with the minimization or maximization of the objective function.
Linear Programming is a subcategory of mathematical programming. As the name suggests, both the objective function and the constraints are linear.
Check out "The Diet Problem" to see an interactive version of linear programming in action. This case study has a formulation page that shows how one linear program is written.
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