Piecewise-linear approximation normally means the best fit of a set of 
points by a continuous series of straight line segments. Usually, the 
condition would be a maximum acceptable deviation and 'optimal' 
would mean the least possible number of segments..

Date forwarded: 	24 Nov 1998 22:49:51 -0000
Send reply to:  	"Leandro Caniglia" <caniglia at dm.uba.ar>
From:           	"Leandro Caniglia" <caniglia at dm.uba.ar>
To:             	<squeak at cs.uiuc.edu>
Subject:        	Re: Class LinearFit - What does the comment mean?
Date sent:      	Tue, 24 Nov 1998 19:41:49 -0300
Forwarded by:   	squeak at cs.uiuc.edu

> >The comment for class LinearFit (a subclass of Path) says :
> >
> >"I represent a piece-wise linear approximation to a set of
> >points in the plane."
> >
> >
> >Is this a correct statement?
> 
> I think that the author was thinking about a linear interpolation problem.
> In these problems you want the graph of a function, but you only have some
> points of it. A linear interpolation is obtained joining the points with
> segments.
> 
> Hope this helps
> Leandro
> 


Ivan Tomek,
Jodrey School of Computer Science
Acadia University
Nova Scotia, Canada
fax: (902) 585-1067
voice: (902) 585-1467