Final answer:
The greedy algorithm for the interval scheduling problem chooses requests by increasing finish time, enabling the most intervals to be accommodated and ensuring an optimal solution.
Step-by-step explanation:
The greedy algorithm that solves the interval scheduling problem selects requests in the order of increasing finish time. This strategy is chosen because by picking the job that finishes the earliest among the remaining choices, it leaves the largest amount of time available for subsequent jobs, thus maximizing the number of intervals (jobs) that can be accommodated.
Choosing requests by increasing interval length, increasing start time, or number of conflicts does not guarantee the optimal solution, as these criteria do not directly relate to maximizing availability for subsequent jobs.