SNOPT incorporates a sequential quadratic programming (SQP) method that obtains search directions from a sequence of quadratic programming subproblems. Each QP subproblem minimizes a quadratic model of a certain Lagrangian function subject to a linearization of the constraints. An augmented Lagrangian merit function is reduced along each search direction to ensure convergence from any starting point.
SNOPT is most efficient if only some of the variables enter nonlinearly, or if the number of active constraints (including simple bounds) is nearly as large as the number of variables. SNOPT requires relatively few evaluations of the problem functions. Hence it is especially effective if the objective or constraint functions are expensive to evaluate.
The source code for SNOPT is suitable for any machine with a reasonable amount of memory and a Fortran compiler. SNOPT may be called from a driver program (typically in Fortran, C or MATLAB).