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Sudoku
- Thread starter wowser
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I have this book - Programming Sudoku that gives a Visual Basic Suduko program. I have had it for about a week and haven't got around to programming it yet. I would need to install Windows in Parallels and get MS's Visual Basic IDE to use the code from the book, but I'm going to try to convert it to C++ and make a crossplatform version of the program using Qt ... some time.
Failing that, I'll try XCode for a Mac-only version.
I'm addicted to Suduko. And programming. So it's a good combination.
Failing that, I'll try XCode for a Mac-only version.
I'm addicted to Suduko. And programming. So it's a good combination.
chrismccorkle said:
Entirely possible!
Though my masked referent meant to implicate my beloved, my object of affection, my esprit, my darling dear, she upon whom I dote in fellowship (with her greathearted groove on), my kindness, my mania, my friction -- my riot and my warmth.
You know. The woman.
Butler Trumpet said:
i prefer DS over dashboard lol. bad thing is, they give you a 20 minute time penalty for mistakes.
ah yes! i forgot about the ds version.... i need to get a ds lite and that kirby game! and try out the sudoku
chrismccorkle said:
Do ye speak buccanneer?
Entirely possible!
Tho me masked referent meant t' implicate me beloved, me object o' affection, me esprit, me darlin' dear, she upon whom I dote in swabbieship (wi' th' lass' greathearted groove on), me kindness, me mania, me friction -- me riot an' me warmth.
Ye know. T' beauty.
Link.
I'm in trouble now -- and for saying such nice things.
Arr.
Yes, I'm obsessed with Sudoku.
I usually play the "Medium" difficulty (~ 56/81 empty), and when I played on a regular basis, I had them done in about 8-12 min. Now, it's about 12-15 min, cause I'm slacking and my brain's gotten dumber.
I will be getting the Sudoku game for the DS in the near future.
I usually play the "Medium" difficulty (~ 56/81 empty), and when I played on a regular basis, I had them done in about 8-12 min. Now, it's about 12-15 min, cause I'm slacking and my brain's gotten dumber.
I will be getting the Sudoku game for the DS in the near future.
Awesome! I'm almost out of Sudoku puzzles on my copy of Brain Age so this is my new drug
I believe Sudoku is made so that, no matter how hard the game is, you never have to use guess-and-check. Though in a couple games I've played, it's seemed like it. (They were very hard though.)Doctor Q said:
I used to think that wasn't true, then I decided it was true, then I decided it wasn't true, then I decided it was true!thegreatluke said:
Explanation of my evolving opinion:
(1) At first, I would try to solve a puzzle and sometimes get stuck, not seeing that any next cell was uniquely determined. So I'd try a value and backtrack if it didn't work out. I concluded that some puzzles couldn't be solved without guessing.
(2) Then I figured out additional ways to determine the value of a cell, which meant that I didn't have to guess as often, and I concluded that if I just learned enough of these tricks I would always be able to find a next value without guessing. In other words, I sometimes had to guess, but I thought that a more advanced puzzle-solver wouldn't have to.
(3) But I kept finding puzzles where I had to guess, and for which I couldn't see any rule that would have forced a cell value, even in hindsight. So I started doubting that there were more rules (that I hadn't yet figured out) to cover all cases, and instead guessing was indeed sometimes necessary.
(4) Finally, I realized that if you can solve a puzzle by guessing and backtracking, then you can solve without guessing by thinking many more moves ahead, the way a chess player does. In other words, a chess player considers a move, thinks through its consequences, does the same for another move, and then picks the better of the two. You don't call that "guessing" so you shouldn't call it guessing if you do "what if" experiments in your head while solving a Sudoku puzzle either.
In theory, if you could keep it all in your head, you could stare at a new Sudoku puzzle until you knew what the top left cell value had to be without ever putting pencil to paper or cursor to screen.
I don't know how it compares to others (like the iSudoku widget I have), but Apple is currently featuring Sudoku Widget on their Dashboard downloads page.
They also have Sudoku Solver and Sudoku Fun.
It's certainly easy to download one or more of these and try them.
They also have Sudoku Solver and Sudoku Fun.
It's certainly easy to download one or more of these and try them.
Doctor Q said:
I'm happy to hear that I'm not the only person to come to this conclusion. Many if not most of the "diabolical" level puzzles only solve so far with pure logic. At some point the last cells will only solve by running scenarios, either on paper or (if you're really good) in your head. It seems to me that more and more of the puzzles require this kind of solving strategy. When Sudoku first started running (in the LA Times, at least), nearly every one could be solved with no guesswork at all. Not so anymore.
