Software to pack files on CD
 

I am after a program , or an article describing how to write a program, that will maximise the number of variable size files I can fit on a CD as follows:

From a list of 200+ files all of varying lengths choose a set of files that will leave the least amount of wasted space on a CD. Then repeat the process with the left over files untill all are used.
Then to add a slight complication , make the space available on CD a variable as well.

Instead of doing all those calculations you might be better off just tar'ring the files you want to back up into one file, then compress that file if you'd like, then split the file into 700MB chunks for storing on CD.

The downside is that you'd need to restore all of the CDs to recreate the original file, but it's a whole lot simpler from a programming stand point.

Forgot to mention in my original post that file compression is out. The files must be stored in their original state.
I'm thinking that the solution is similar to that of the "Towers of Hanoi" puzzle.

Thanks Itsme86 for the suggestion.