lunababy_moonchild wrote:Stuartn
Setting puzzles by hand is wholly different to writing alogorithms for a computer program to create (or that matter solve) the puzzles.
Luna
Disagree entirely.
Depends entirely on where you're coming from - some programs are created to blindly crash through the grid. Others, created by people who are more interested in the logic and overall structure, mimic the human thought processes involved in solving (or creating) the grid ( which are advancing rapidly as people such as those on this site make further advances in solving methods) - without recourse to sledgehammer techniques and an opportunity to make a fast buck. Have a look at some of them. IMHO a good programmer would use the same algorithms to both build and solve a grid (although sledgehammers can be built in) - Once you've written the rules for solving they are immediately available for creating - and we may not yet have found all the rules . It only makes sense doesn't it? - Try building one yourself - (you've probably done this already with your wealth of experience) - start by building the full grid - how do you do it? - what rules are you following? I'd be very interested if there were any different rules to those that you follow while solving.
stuartn
