Final answer:
The goal of the interval partitioning problem is to schedule all requests using as few resources as possible, minimizing resource usage while ensuring no overlapping requests share the same resource.
Step-by-step explanation:
The goal of the interval partitioning problem is to schedule all requests using as few resources as possible. This problem often arises in contexts such as assigning classrooms to university courses, where each course requires a room during a certain time interval and the goal is to minimize the number of classrooms used. The idea is to manage the given set of intervals (requests) in such a way that overlapping requests are allocated different resources, ultimately aiming for the most efficient use of resources.
To achieve this goal, algorithms for interval partitioning will sort the requests by the starting time of the intervals, then, one by one, assign each request to a compatible resource—one that is not already assigned to another request with an overlapping interval. If no compatible resource is available, a new resource is used. The objective is to keep the number of resources as low as possible while ensuring no two overlapping requests are assigned the same resource.