Help Writing an Algorithm

Hello,

Looking for some pointers on the best way to go about this. I have a tasking app that will load all tasks upon launching the app.

Im looking for it to sort the tasks using an algorithm that will put the most important task at the top.

Each task has its own rating from 1-5 (1 being not so important, 5 being very important), when its due by and who raised the task. A task can only be performed on certain days based on what day it is (i.e. Mon-Thurs for certain tasks and only weekends for others).

What is the best way to sort this? Should i create some type of weighting system where if its during the week rate a task 3/5 important and then based on its own rating sort it again? should the weight system be out of 100? should it be percetile? Not sure the best way to go about this.

Cheers.

[Walter Roberson]

There is some ambiguity in the specifications.

What happens if there is a high priority task that is due after a particular time, and there is a lower priority task that is due before that time? If you work on the high priority task first then you risk not finishing the lower priority task by it due time.

You do not mention the possibility of working on multiple tasks simultaneously.

You do not mention there being an estimate of how long the tasks will take, so you are forced into running all of the highest priority tasks, then all of the next priority, and so on, and hoping that each task gets finished by its deadline. Whereas if you had an estimate of how long each task would take, you could perhaps do meaningful scheduling.

[the cyclist]

Just to expand a bit on what @Walter Roberson wrote:

There is a difference between the algorithm and the code to perform the algorithm. The algorithm is the (unambiguous) sequence of instructions that will solve the problem. The code carries out those instructions.

Generally speaking, this forum tends to be more about helping with the code in MATLAB (although certainly folks help with algorithmic ideas, too). But in your case, I think you are really the only one who can decide on the algorithm. A first step, which I think you know already, is to list all the variables that could be used to define the priority. Next, you need to decide on the formula that calculates the priority from those variables. Then, you encode that formula.

These days, I expect that ChatGPT or another AI could help with that formula-definition task, more efficiently than we could. You could try to "AI Chat Playground" here, for example.

[John D'Errico]

This is far too vague of a question to even be thinking about an algorithm, not even considering code. And that makes it not even a question about MATLAB, certainly not yet.

But then you ask very specific questions about weights. Shoould they be out of 100? Who cares? Weights are always going to be relative, however you implement them. 100 is just a number. That suggests you are getting lost in the specifics, without even thinking about the real questions.

You need to write down, very clearly what are the goals. What are you trying to solve? What makes the problem solvable, such that there is a solution? Will you minimize something? Maximize something?

What are the unknowns? Again, be clear. WRITE IT DOWN. Do so in a way that someone can understand your question. In what form are the unknowns defined?

Are there constraints on the problem that limit it in some way? It is often the case that whollty unconstrained problems have no solution.

I'm sorry, but all of this is something that only you can do, since only you know what problem you are trying to solve. Until you can define the problem with sufficient accuracy, you cannot formulate an algorithm in any form.

You may need to sit down with a specialist in a field like operations research, where you will explain what you must do, and they can point you in a reasonable direction.