Pure JavaScript Sudoku generator/solver

Talking about Sudoku game, Game development and Javascript.

Several years ago I already showed you a Sudoku generator/solver using PHP and another using AS3, today I am showing you the JavaScript version because I am going to create a visual Sudoku game using some popular frameworks.

Here it is what you are going to get:

You can start with an empty Sudoku, so it will generate a random one, or populate sudoku array to have it solved.

Here is the source code:

<html>
<head>

<script>

// we start with an empty sudoku...
var sudoku = new Array(0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0);

// ... and we solve it!!
solve(sudoku);

// given a sudoku cell, returns the row
function returnRow(cell) {
	return Math.floor(cell / 9);
}

// given a sudoku cell, returns the column
function returnCol(cell) {
	return cell % 9;
}

// given a sudoku cell, returns the 3x3 block
function returnBlock(cell) {
	return Math.floor(returnRow(cell) / 3) * 3 + Math.floor(returnCol(cell) / 3);
}

// given a number, a row and a sudoku, returns true if the number can be placed in the row
function isPossibleRow(number,row,sudoku) {
	for (var i=0; i<=8; i++) {
		if (sudoku[row*9+i] == number) {
			return false;
		}
	}
	return true;
}

// given a number, a column and a sudoku, returns true if the number can be placed in the column
function isPossibleCol(number,col,sudoku) {
	for (var i=0; i<=8; i++) {
		if (sudoku[col+9*i] == number) {
			return false;
		}
	}
	return true;
}

// given a number, a 3x3 block and a sudoku, returns true if the number can be placed in the block
function isPossibleBlock(number,block,sudoku) {
	for (var i=0; i<=8; i++) {
		if (sudoku[Math.floor(block/3)*27+i%3+9*Math.floor(i/3)+3*(block%3)] == number) {
			return false;
		}
	}
	return true;
}

// given a cell, a number and a sudoku, returns true if the number can be placed in the cell
function isPossibleNumber(cell,number,sudoku) {
	var row = returnRow(cell);
	var col = returnCol(cell);
	var block = returnBlock(cell);
	return isPossibleRow(number,row,sudoku) && isPossibleCol(number,col,sudoku) && isPossibleBlock(number,block,sudoku);
}

// given a row and a sudoku, returns true if it's a legal row
function isCorrectRow(row,sudoku) {
	var rightSequence = new Array(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9);
	var rowTemp= new Array();
	for (var i=0; i<=8; i++) {
		rowTemp[i] = sudoku[row*9+i];
	}
	rowTemp.sort();
	return rowTemp.join() == rightSequence.join();
}

// given a column and a sudoku, returns true if it's a legal column
function isCorrectCol(col,sudoku) {
	var rightSequence = new Array(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9);
	var colTemp= new Array();
	for (var i=0; i<=8; i++) {
		colTemp[i] = sudoku[col+i*9];
	}
	colTemp.sort();
	return colTemp.join() == rightSequence.join();
}

// given a 3x3 block and a sudoku, returns true if it's a legal block 
function isCorrectBlock(block,sudoku) {
	var rightSequence = new Array(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9);
	var blockTemp= new Array();
	for (var i=0; i<=8; i++) {
		blockTemp[i] = sudoku[Math.floor(block/3)*27+i%3+9*Math.floor(i/3)+3*(block%3)];
	}
	blockTemp.sort();
	return blockTemp.join() == rightSequence.join();
}

// given a sudoku, returns true if the sudoku is solved
function isSolvedSudoku(sudoku) {
	for (var i=0; i<=8; i++) {
		if (!isCorrectBlock(i,sudoku) || !isCorrectRow(i,sudoku) || !isCorrectCol(i,sudoku)) {
			return false;
		}
	}
	return true;
}

// given a cell and a sudoku, returns an array with all possible values we can write in the cell
function determinePossibleValues(cell,sudoku) {
	var possible = new Array();
	for (var i=1; i<=9; i++) {
		if (isPossibleNumber(cell,i,sudoku)) {
			possible.unshift(i);
		}
	}
	return possible;
}

// given an array of possible values assignable to a cell, returns a random value picked from the array
function determineRandomPossibleValue(possible,cell) {
	var randomPicked = Math.floor(Math.random() * possible[cell].length);
	return possible[cell][randomPicked];
}

// given a sudoku, returns a two dimension array with all possible values 
function scanSudokuForUnique(sudoku) {
	var possible = new Array();
	for (var i=0; i<=80; i++) {
		if (sudoku[i] == 0) {
			possible[i] = new Array();
			possible[i] = determinePossibleValues(i,sudoku);
			if (possible[i].length==0) {
				return false;
			}
		}
	}
	return possible;
}

// given an array and a number, removes the number from the array
function removeAttempt(attemptArray,number) {
	var newArray = new Array();
	for (var i=0; i<attemptArray.length; i++) {
		if (attemptArray[i] != number) {
			newArray.unshift(attemptArray[i]);
		}
	}
	return newArray;
}

// given a two dimension array of possible values, returns the index of a cell where there are the less possible numbers to choose from
function nextRandom(possible) {
	var max = 9;
	var minChoices = 0;
	for (var i=0; i<=80; i++) {
		if (possible[i]!=undefined) {
			if ((possible[i].length<=max) && (possible[i].length>0)) {
				max = possible[i].length;
				minChoices = i;
			}
		}
	}
	return minChoices;
}

// given a sudoku, solves it
function solve(sudoku) {
	var saved = new Array();
	var savedSudoku = new Array();
	var i=0;
	var nextMove;
	var whatToTry;
	var attempt;
	while (!isSolvedSudoku(sudoku)) {
		i++;
		nextMove = scanSudokuForUnique(sudoku);
		if (nextMove == false) {
			nextMove = saved.pop();
			sudoku = savedSudoku.pop();
		}
		whatToTry = nextRandom(nextMove);
		attempt = determineRandomPossibleValue(nextMove,whatToTry);
		if (nextMove[whatToTry].length>1) {
			nextMove[whatToTry] = removeAttempt(nextMove[whatToTry],attempt);
			saved.push(nextMove.slice());
			savedSudoku.push(sudoku.slice());
		}
		sudoku[whatToTry] = attempt;
	}
	showSudoku(sudoku,i);
}


// given a solved sudoku and the number of steps, prints out the sudoku
function showSudoku(sudoku,i) {
	var sudokuText = "";
	var solved = "\n\nSolved in "+i+" steps";
	for (var i=0; i<=8; i++) {
		for (var j=0; j<=8; j++) {
			sudokuText+=" ";
			sudokuText+=sudoku[i*9+j];
			sudokuText+=" ";
			if (j!=8) {
				sudokuText+="|";
			}
		}
		if (i!=8) {
			sudokuText+="\n---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---\n";
		}
	}
	sudokuText+=solved;
	document.write("<pre>"+sudokuText+"</pre>");
}

</script>
</head>
<body>
</body>
</html>

That was easy, but things will get interesting when I’ll show you this engine in a game, meanwhile download the source code.