One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that constructs a classifier that distinguishes between different classes of data points. During operation, the system first receives a data set, which includes class-one data points and class-two data points. For each class-one data point in the data set, the system uses a separating primitive to produce a set of point-to-point separating boundaries, wherein each point-to-point separating boundary separates the class-one data point from a different class-two data point. Next, the system combines separating boundaries in the set of separating boundaries to produce a point-to-class separating boundary that separates the class-one data point from all of the class-two data points in the data set. Finally, the system combines the point-to-class separating boundaries for each of the class-one data points to produce a class-to-class separating boundary for the classifier that separates all of the class-one data points from all of the class-two data points in the data set.