A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium retaining program instructions configured to cause a processor to perform actions, which program instructions implement: a framework for creating a model of an NP-hard problem, the model comprising at least one entity selected from the group comprising: an objective, a variable, an equation and a constraint, wherein the framework provides methods for automatically transforming the model, comprising: one or more methods for manipulating or changing a status of the entity of the model, the methods comprising a method for imposing or ignoring the constraint; and one or more methods related to operations to be applied to the entity of the model.