A Sudoku Solver in Java implementing Knuth’s Dancing Links Algorithm

A Sudoku Solver in Java implementing Knuth's Dancing Links Algorithm

A Sudoku Solver in Java implementing Knuth's Dancing Links Algorithm For the Harker Research Symposium Version: 1.2 Knuth's paper on Dancing Links can be found here or follow the credits links below. Dr. Donald Knuth's Dancing Links Algorithm solves an Exact Cover situation. The Exact Cover problem can be extended to a variety of applications that need to fill constraints. Sudoku is one such special case of the Exact Cover problem. The Journey In early 2006, I participated in the ACSL Competition. The prompt of the competition was to create a simple Sudoku solver. I had never solved a Sudoku puzzle so I researched on methods to approach the puzzle. I came across several strategy guides, Sudoku forums, and computer solvers. Hinted amongst the computer programs was the dancing links algorithm. However, given the time and simplicity required for the competition, I reverted to a simple brute force candidate elimination algorithm to solve the simple Sudoku given by the ACSL. However,

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