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This software is released in the public domain.  See LICENSE.

This software was originally written in 2013 by Allen Hubbe.

I wrote this simple solver because I received a Sudoku cube as a gift.

Thanks Philip!

A Sudoku cube is like a Rubik's cube, except each square has a number, and the
cube is solved by having each number appear exactly once on each side.

Let's not get too picky about names here, but yes Rubik's is a brand name, and
not all cubes are made by Rubik's.  When I talk about Rubik's cubes, I mean
cubes that look like and can be manipulated the same way a traditional Rubik's
cube.

To use the program, yes you do need to edit the source code, because I didn't
write any support for reading start states from a file.  The start state is
coded in search.py, for searching, and sudoku.py, for solving the goal state.
Getting the start state coded right can be tricky!  If the solver can't find a
solution, try putting the Rubik's equivalent problem in one of the faster
Rubik's solvers, then walk through the solution with walk.py.  That's what I
did the first time :).  There are some good Rubik's solvers out there.

Each number also has an orientation (i.e. which side should be up), so this is
equivalent to a Rubik's picture cube.  This solver uses the orientation to
quickly find the goal state, then uses bidirectional search to find an optimal
solution.  The solution doesn't track orientation, so it is possible to arrive
to a solution where the center squares on each side are oriented wrong.  In
this case, you can find instructions on the web for rotating the center squares
on a picture cube.