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Principles of operation ======================= Bin packing is an `NP-hard problem`_ and there is no way to always achieve an optimum solution without running through every single permutation. But that's OK because this implementation is designed to simulate a naive human approach to the problem rather than search for the "perfect" solution. This is for 2 reasons: 1. It's quicker 2. It doesn't require the person actually packing the box to be given a 3D diagram explaining just how the items are supposed to fit. At a high level, the algorithm works like this: * Pack largest (by volume) items first * Pack vertically up the side of the box * Pack side-by-side where item under consideration fits alongside the previous item * If more than 1 box is needed to accommodate all of the items, then aim for boxes of roughly equal weight (e.g. 3 medium size/weight boxes are better than 1 small light box and 2 that are large and heavy) .. _NP-hard problem: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bin_packing_problem