sudoku_solver.py

"""
It's similar to how human solve Sudoku.

create a hash table (dictionary) val to store possible values in every location.
Each time, start from the location with fewest possible values, choose one value
from it and then update the board and possible values at other locations.
If this update is valid, keep solving (DFS). If this update is invalid (leaving
zero possible values at some locations) or this value doesn't lead to the
solution, undo the updates and then choose the next value.
Since we calculated val at the beginning and start filling the board from the
location with fewest possible values, the amount of calculation and thus the
runtime can be significantly reduced:


The run time is 48-68 ms on LeetCode OJ, which seems to be among the fastest
python solutions here.


The PossibleVals function may be further simplified/optimized, but it works just
fine for now. (it would look less lengthy if we are allowed to use numpy array
for the board lol).
"""

import unittest

class Sudoku: 
    def __init__ (self, board, row, col):
        self.board = board
        self.row = row
        self.col = col
        self.val = self.possible_values()

    def possible_values(self):
        a = "123456789"
        d, val = {}, {}
        for i in range(self.row):
            for j in range(self.col):
                ele = self.board[i][j]
                if ele != ".":
                    d[("r", i)] = d.get(("r", i), []) + [ele]
                    d[("c", j)] = d.get(("c", j), []) + [ele]
                    d[(i//3, j//3)] = d.get((i//3, j//3), []) + [ele]
                else:
                    val[(i,j)] = []
        for (i,j) in val.keys():
            inval = d.get(("r",i),[])+d.get(("c",j),[])+d.get((i/3,j/3),[])
            val[(i,j)] = [n for n in a if n not in inval ]
        return val

    def solve(self):
        if len(self.val)==0:
            return True
        kee = min(self.val.keys(), key=lambda x: len(self.val[x]))
        nums = self.val[kee]
        for n in nums:
            update = {kee:self.val[kee]}
            if self.valid_one(n, kee, update): # valid choice
                if self.solve(): # keep solving
                    return True
            self.undo(kee, update) # invalid choice or didn't solve it => undo
        return False

    def valid_one(self, n, kee, update):
        self.board[kee[0]][kee[1]] = n
        del self.val[kee]
        i, j = kee
        for ind in self.val.keys():
            if n in self.val[ind]:
                if ind[0]==i or ind[1]==j or (ind[0]/3,ind[1]/3)==(i/3,j/3):
                    update[ind] = n
                    self.val[ind].remove(n)
                    if len(self.val[ind])==0:
                        return False
        return True

    def undo(self, kee, update):
        self.board[kee[0]][kee[1]]="."
        for k in update:
            if k not in self.val:
                self.val[k]= update[k]
            else:
                self.val[k].append(update[k])
        return None

    def __str__(self):
        """[summary]
        Generates a board representation as string.

        Returns:
            [str] -- [board representation]
        """

        resp = ""
        for i in range(self.row):
            for j in range(self.col):
                resp += " {0} ".format(self.board[i][j])
            resp += "\n"
        return resp


class TestSudoku(unittest.TestCase):
    def test_sudoku_solver(self):
        board = [["5","3","."], ["6",".", "."],[".","9","8"]]
        test_obj = Sudoku(board, 3, 3)
        test_obj.solve()
        self.assertEqual([['5', '3', '1'], ['6', '1', '2'], ['1', '9', '8']],test_obj.board)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    unittest.main()