Talk:Knuth's Algorithm X: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 16:54, 27 June 2006

Revision as of 12:57, 19 April 2007

Line 24:

The [[exact cover]], [[Algorithm X]] and [[Dancing Links]] articles all discuss similar ideas. The exact cover problem is an [[Np_complete|NP-complete]] problem; Algorithm X is a [[brute-force]] [[algorithm]] that finds all solutions to the exact cover problem; and Dancing Links is a computer implementation of Algorithm X. These related topics have received a lot of interest recently because Dancing Links is the preferred technique for solving [[Sudoku]] puzzles quickly by computer. I suggest that all three topics be reoganized so that most of the information about concepts and examples is in the [[exact cover]] articles, with the other two articles focusing just on the particulars of the algorithm or the computer implementation. --[[User:Rob Zako|Rob Zako]] 16:54, 27 June 2006 (UTC)

== Algorithm X is the wrong name ==

Knuth uses "Algorithm X" as a temporary name for algorithms during discussion, not as actual referrable names, much as if you may say "imagine a variable x which represents the (unknown) number of articles in Wikipedia". For example, there's another "Knuth's Algorithm X" in The Art of Computer Science, third edition, page 325.

I propose that this article be renamed "Brute Force Exact Cover Algorithm" or better, just combine it with the DLX article.