Mathematical problems in which some explicitly stated function of ma:~y independent variables is to be minimized or maximized andin which the variables may also be subjected to various explicitly stated constraints (usually called the general problem ot' mathematical programming), continue to be difficult te solve in practice.The prescott work is an extension of previous ideas on unconstrained optimization by "search" techniques, to the more difficult problem of constrained optimization.The essence of the method herei~ presented is to use linear programming in certain situations where constraints limit search techniques to find a fruitful direction in which to continue the search.Computational experience, while limited, has indicated that the procedure is reasonably efhcier~t.