Sam Mason wrote:
> SELECT course, date, COUNT(*)
> FROM application_preferred_date
> GROUP BY course, date;
>
> Hope that gives you some ideas!
>
the problem as stated is more complex than that. A student could, in
theory, pick several different courses on the same dates on the
assumption that he doesn't care what course on which date. so if the
optimizer/solver has counted this student for course1 on date1, he can't
be counted for course2 on that same date, only on an alternate date he
may have also specified.