The Puzzle Solver
The solver always chooses the optimal solution, i.e., with the fewest number of
moves (it uses the
A* search strategy, with the manhattan distance of each piece to its
ultimate goal as the search heuristic). Due to the size of the
problem, I've fudged a bit with the randomization algorithm at the
beginning to limit the size of the search space, but still,
occasionally you may get a puzzle that takes the machine a while to
solve. (Most, however, take under 10 seconds.)
To use the Puzzle Solver, click on "New" to get a new puzzle. Then
click "Solve" to have the applet find an optimal solution path. You
can then view the animation by clicking on "Run" or step through it
using "Step".
For those who are interested, here's the source.
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