Since Scheduler is a C++ library, you can use it directly in your own applications. There is no need to start Scheduler; there's no need to "get into" or "get out of" it either. It's not another programming language that you have to learn before you can make use of it. Nor is it a closed system that you have to find your way around. In fact, you can continue to use your preferred development environment while you build Scheduler into your applications. It's ready to go once you install the library on your platform.

When you use Scheduler, you link the library to your application. The command that you use for linking depends on your platform (that is, the combination of hardware and software you are using). In the standard distribution of the product, there is a readme file that explains where to find a sample project, and a make file containing the link command and other details appropriate to your platform.

You will use Scheduler to create a model of a scheduling or resource allocation problem. The model that is created belongs to an environment, and both the model and the environment are managed by IBM ILOG Concert Technology. After the model is complete, it is extracted to a solver engine, such as IBM ILOG Solver. All the examples in this book are based on extracting the model to Solver, and using Solver search methods to find a solution.