A cool algorithm to check a Sudoku field?

Question

Does anyone know a simple algorithm to check if a Sudoku-Configuration is valid? The simplest algorithm I came up with is (for a board of size n) in Pseudocode

f         


        

Answer 1

I did this once for a class project. I used a total of 27 sets to represent each row, column and box. I'd check the numbers as I added them to each set (each placement of a number causes the number to be added to 3 sets, a row, a column, and a box) to make sure the user only entered the digits 1-9. The only way a set could get filled is if it was properly filled with unique digits. If all 27 sets got filled, the puzzle was solved. Setting up the mappings from the user interface to the 27 sets was a bit tedious, but made the rest of the logic a breeze to implement.