What is Sudoku?
First things first. What is a sudoku puzzle? Sudoku is a number-placement puzzle based on logic that originated in Japan. The objective is to fill a 9x9 grid with digits so that each row, column, and box (3x3 subgrids that compose the grid) contains all of the digits from 1 to 9. You start from a partially populated grid, and add number after number using logic considerations.
Sudoku can be interpreted, from a computer science perspective, as a problem that fits in the exact cover category. Donald Knuth, the author of The Art of Computer Programming (and many other wonderful books), has devised an algorithm, called Algorithm X, to solve problems in this category. A beautiful and efficient implementation of Algorithm X, called ...
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