Also, just FYI, there are actually two simplex methods. One is an algorithm to solve LPs (by George Dantzig), while the other is a derivative-free optimization

Also, just FYI, there are actually two simplex methods. One is an algorithm to solve LPs (by George Dantzig), while the other is a derivative-free optimization algorithm for solving general unconstrained problems. It’s unfortunate they both share the same name, because they’re completely different algorithms.