On Thu, Mar 26, 2015 at 11:26 PM, Marko Rauhamaa <ma...@pacujo.net> wrote: > "Frank Millman" <fr...@chagford.com>: > >> Here is another python-based sudoku solver - >> >> http://www.ics.uci.edu/~eppstein/PADS/Sudoku.py >> >>>From its docstring - >> >> "A proper Sudoku puzzle must have a unique solution, and it should be >> possible to reach that solution by a sequence of logical deductions >> without trial and error. > > I don't think that statement holds water. Trial-and-error is at the > basis of deduction (reductio ad absurdum). The human solver employs it > in their head. The question is, what is the difference between > pen-and-paper and in-your-head for a computer program?
Nothing. And solving a Sudoku puzzle - or any other puzzle - should require no guessing. It should be possible to solve purely by logic. Same goes for every other kind of puzzle out there; it's highly unsatisfying to play Minesweeper and get to the end with a block of four squares in a corner, two mines left, and no way of knowing which diagonal has the mines and which is clear. No trial-and-error, thanks. ChrisA -- https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
