Talk:Dancing Links

message: This should not be merged with linked list as they are not the same thing. Linked list is the general name for a programming practice of creating nodes that are linked together, while dancing links is a method of iterating through the links, or so i can gather. 212.179.254.74 04:29, 24 September 2005
* I agree, this should not be merged with linked list. Dancing links is a way of removing elements from and re-inserting elements into a doubly-linked list, which is used in implementing an algorithm for trial-and-error searches for solutions to a problem. This article is about a different topic, and should be expanded on, but not merged. ralmin 20:37, 16 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: 2005 merge discussion

message: I've read Knuth's paper, and in its current state, this article discusses two aspects:
Knuth's Algorithm X (vaguely) Converting a Sudoku board for use by Algorithm X
The only place in this article where Dancing Links are correctly referred to is where it states that Dancing Links is an algorithm using linked lists. Overall this article is grossly misleading. Read Knuth's paper (linked from the article) to see what I'm talking about.
I think I'll rewrite this even though I'm no expert on the subject; it certainly can't turn out worse.
... Done. The new Algorithm X page will show up... when wikipedia updates their database or whatever needs to happen.
Eneg 19:41, 5 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Dancing links and Algorithm X 

message: Would it be possible to get an example of how a Sudoku puzzle is represented by a matrix?  I suppose I could try to figure it out and post it and see if it lasts.
* I think this is a good idea. But I think it makes the most sense to include this as part of a Sudoku example in the exact cover article. See my question/suggestion below about reorganizing related articles. --Rob Zako 17:37, 27 June 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Example needed 

message: The exact cover, Algorithm X and Dancing Links articles all discuss similar ideas. The exact cover problem is an 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. --Rob Zako 16:56, 27 June 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Reorganize Exact cover, Algorithm X and Dancing Links articles? 

message: While I'm flattered (the "Perl example" slide presentation linked was mine), that presentation has nothing at all to do with DLX/Algorithm-X.  It was a much more general talk about solving Sudoku in Perl.  However, I actually did write an article about using Algorithm-X to solve and generate Sudoku using exact cover in an issue of The Perl Review, a print magazine.  I think that I replace the link to the slides with a reference to that print publication.  Note, however that it only relates to the exact cover Sudoku solver component of Knuth's paper, and does not employ DLX in any way. 74.109.0.116 14:06, 9 January 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Note on the Perl example linked 

message: As the poster at IP 87.81.240.123 observed, it is necessary to finally remove every row containing a 1 in **any** of the columns that the chosen row contains a 1, to avoid conflict (i.e., multiple 1s in a column).  Could someone change the text please?  (Otherwise I will have a go myself in a few days...) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 130.123.128.114 (talk) 07:29, 7 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Slight adjustment of algorithm description needed 

message: What does the reverse arrow (←) mean?  —CobraA1 01:58, 17 June 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: It appears to mean that the variable on the left hand side is being assigned the value on the right. Most modern programming languages use an equal sign for this, but it's rather different from mathematical equality so some writers prefer other notations such as this one. —David Eppstein (talk) 04:43, 17 June 2008 (UTC)
replies: text:  It should changed, I was confused by it too. I thought it meant traversing a pointer. (i.e. C/C++/etc pointer notation) --Voidvector (talk) 05:53, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

text:  This should not be changed by any means. It's a very common notation in algorithms literature. We should at most point out to a glossary, or mention that somewhere in the text. --NIC1138 (talk) 01:07, 10 May 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: Reverse arrow?

message: For some reason, I find that this article (combined with the Algorithm X article) difficult to understand, and does not give me quite sufficient details to implement DLX in my own codes. On the other hand, Knuth's paper is to the point, contains sufficient examples, making it easily understandable for me to implement DLX. My suggestion is to merge the two pages, and to reproduce the pseudocode from Knuth's paper on this page.
Further, the following two links could contain additional information that allows this article to be expanded:
* How to find a random solution using DLX in the context of generating full Sudoku grids.
* Algorithm Y by David Eppstein, which improves Algorithm X if the aim is to find a single solution. (I haven't properly digested this though.)
--unkx80 (talk) 14:01, 13 November 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Difficult to understand, and suggestions for expansion 

message: If you read the Knuth paper, you'll see that "Dancing Links" is the technique for quickly undeleting an element from a doubly linked list. He claims it to be extremely useful in general and then shows an example by applying it to Algorithm X. He say, "When algorithm X is implemented in terms of dancing links, let’s call it algorithm DLX." Ben (talk) 10:02, 27 March 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  DLX is not synonymous with Dancing Links 

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thread_title:  External links modified