Applied Optimization

This repository contains the lecture materials and tutorials for the course "Applied Optimization" currently taught at the University of Hamburg. The course focuses on practical optimization techniques using the Julia programming language.

Course Overview

The course covers applied optimization methods with hands-on tutorials and real-world examples. Students learn to solve optimization problems using Julia and various optimization packages.

Project Structure

Content Directories

• lectures/ - Course lecture materials

  • Lecture content in Quarto markdown (.qmd) files
  • Rendered HTML versions for web viewing
  • Presentation slides (*-presentation.html) for classroom use
  • Supporting images and files

• tutorials/ - Interactive tutorials and exercises

  • Step-by-step Julia tutorials in .qmd format
  • Hands-on exercises covering optimization concepts
  • Data files and supporting materials in data/ and images/

• general/ - General course information and resources

Technical Directories

• helpers/ - Post-processing automation scripts (see Helper Functions)
• _site/ - Generated website output (created by Quarto)
• _repo-md/ - Processed markdown files (created by helper scripts)
• _freeze/ - Quarto's computational cache
• site_libs/ - Website dependencies and libraries

Configuration Files

• _quarto.yml - Main Quarto configuration and build settings
• _brand.yml - Website branding and styling
• Project.toml - Julia project dependencies
• Pipfile - Python dependencies for helper scripts
• jupytext.toml - Jupytext configuration for notebook conversion

🔧 Build Process

The project uses Quarto as the main build system with automated post-processing:

1. Render Phase: Quarto processes .qmd files into HTML, creating the website in _site/
2. Post-Render Phase: Helper scripts automatically process the generated content

The build pipeline is configured in _quarto.yml:

project:
  type: website
  post-render:
    - helpers/convert_pypercent.py
    - helpers/convert_qmd_to_md.py
    - helpers/create_pdf.py

Helper Functions

The helpers/ directory contains automation scripts that run after each build:

convert_pypercent.py

Purpose: Converts Jupyter notebooks to Julia percent format

• Input: All .ipynb files in _site/tutorials/
• Output: Corresponding .jl files in percent format
• Technology: Uses Jupytext for format conversion
• Usage: Enables easy editing of tutorials in Julia-native format

How it works:

1. Finds all notebook files in the tutorials directory
2. Reads each notebook using Jupytext
3. Converts to Julia percent format (.jl files with # %% cell separators)
4. Saves alongside original notebooks

convert_qmd_to_md.py

Purpose: Extracts and organizes rendered markdown files

• Input: All .md files in _site/
• Output: Organized copy in _repo-md/ maintaining directory structure
• Usage: Creates a clean markdown repository for version control or external processing

How it works:

1. Recursively finds all .md files in the rendered site
2. Recreates the directory structure in _repo-md/
3. Moves files while preserving relative paths
4. Provides organized markdown output separate from HTML site

convert-pdf.py

Purpose: Converts PDF files to SVG format (manual use)

• Input: PDF files in specified directory
• Output: SVG files with naming convention
• Technology: Uses pdf2svg command-line tool
• Usage: Manual execution for converting diagrams or figures

Getting Started

Prerequisites

1. Julia - For running computational content
2. Python - For helper scripts and Quarto
3. Quarto - For building the website

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/beyondsimulations/Applied-Optimization.git
   cd Applied-Optimization

2. Install Julia dependencies:

   julia --project=. -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.instantiate()'

3. Install Python dependencies:

   uv sync

Building the Site

To build the complete website with all post-processing:

quarto render

This will:

• Render all .qmd files to HTML
• Execute the post-render helper scripts
• Generate PDFs, Julia files, and organized markdown
• Create the complete website in _site/

Development

For development with live preview:

quarto preview

Note: Post-render scripts only run on full renders, not during preview mode.

Content Creation

Adding New Lectures

1. Create a new .qmd file in lectures/ following the naming convention: lecture-XX-topic.qmd
2. For presentations, create a corresponding lecture-XX-presentation.html file
3. Run quarto render to process and generate PDFs automatically

Adding New Tutorials

1. Create tutorial files in tutorials/ following the pattern: tutorial-XX-YY-topic.qmd
2. Include any data files in tutorials/data/
3. The build process will automatically generate Julia percent format versions

Working with Julia Code

• All computational content is executed during rendering
• Julia environment is managed through Project.toml
• Code execution is cached by Quarto for faster subsequent builds

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create content following the established naming conventions
3. Test your changes with quarto render
4. Submit a pull request

License

This project is licensed under the terms specified in the LICENSE file.

Links

• Course Website: https://beyondsimulations.github.io/Applied-Optimization
• Source Repository: https://github.com/beyondsimulations/Applied-Optimization
• Quarto Documentation: https://quarto.org/
• Julia Language: https://julialang.org/