When I learned the simplex methond in my Engineering classes I had to perform it by hand for exams (only a couple steps or to get an updated matrix). The table

When I learned the simplex methond in my Engineering classes I had to perform it by hand for exams (only a couple steps or to get an updated matrix). The tableau method was easy to write out and learn. Yet for solution computation in the practical world it is very computationally expensive. I would solve in matrix form as the author suggests since linear algebra has come a long way since then. Another note is that the simplex method is just one aspect of solving optimization problems. Most computation solvers now use a series of heuristics to get a "close enough" solution than perform either a simplex or gradient descent approach to get a final solution. For those that want to know more about this research I highly recommend the field of Operations Research. https://www.or-exchange.org/ https://www.or-exchange.org/ is a good Q&A site for detail.