Building a shift schedule generator taught me that scheduling is harder than it looks

Short summary

A developer building Shift Schedule Maker discovered that shift scheduling is fundamentally a constraint-satisfaction problem, not just a calendar UI problem. Valid schedules require balancing hard constraints like coverage and no overlaps with soft rules like fairness and human readability that often conflict. The key insight: the goal isn't just mathematically correct—it's generating schedules that feel reasonable to managers and teams.

• •Scheduling is a constraint-satisfaction problem with hard and soft rules
• •Hard constraints (coverage, no overlaps) often conflict with soft constraints (fairness, readability)
• •A valid schedule can be mathematically correct yet feel wrong to teams

Generated with AI, which can make mistakes.