Solving Sudoku With Google Cloud Compute
Introduction
Sudoku is popular puzzle game, available in puzzle books, newspapers, and even as a mobile app. I recently downloaded a Sudoku app and spent hours playing it. As an average player, I sometimes become frustrated that I cannot solve it quickly enough and have a strong desire just to solve the puzzle immediately. Using Google Cloud Compute, I was able to click a few buttons, type a few commands, and see an instant solution.
Cloud Infrastructure (IaaS) Market
The cloud infrastructure market has become a money maker for Amazon, where its AWS division racked up $3.53B in just Q4 of 2016 alone (1). Gartner estimated that the IaaS market will be $22B for 2016 (2). Gartner ranks Amazon as #1 in cloud infrastructure, followed by Microsoft and Google (3). Google recognizes that is is #3 and is actively trying to catch up. They hired a VMWare veteran to do this (4).
Google Cloud Solve Sudoku Puzzle
Wishing to solve the above Sudoku puzzle, I found an open source Sudoku solver from Bob Carpenter (5). It is written in Java. To use his Sudoku solver, I need a computer to compile and run his Java code. I have decided to give Google Cloud a shot.
10 Easy Steps To Using Google Cloud Compute
1. Apply For A Google Cloud Compute Account. For Some, You Will Be Offered A $300 Credit To Try It Out. Google Promises That They Won't Charge Without Your Permission.
2. Log Into Your Google Cloud Platform Console.
3. Create A Google Cloud Project Using The Browser. The Project Is Called "projsoduko9x9" It Will Solve A 9x9 Sudoku Matrix.
4. Spool Up A Google Cloud Compute Engine Using The Web GUI.
5 . Active The Google Cloud Shell. Once Activated, You Will Be In The Project Shell. This Is Where You Will Create Instances Of VMs.
6. Then Use The Google Cloud Shell (Still In The Web GUI) To Provision A Virtual Machine Instance In The Project. I Have Named My Instance "instsudoku9x9".
7. Using Google Cloud Shell (CLI) To List VM Instances And SSH Into "instsudoku9x9".
6. Copy And Paste Carpenter's Apache Sudoku Java Source File (5) Into The VM Instance. I Did This By Using "vi" Text Editor To Edit A New File "Sodoku.java", Then Pasting The Source Code.
7. Install Java SDK Using Ubuntu Apt-Get.
8. Java Compile (javac) And Run (java) Sudoku Solver. If You Look At The Unsolved Sudoku From The Above, Row One Already Has 8,3,7,4,6. The Program Accepts A (Row, Column, Value) Notation, And Hence 008, 023, 037, 074, and 086 Are The Inputs. You Can Repeat This For Rows 1-8. Note : I Had A Typo In The File Name. Was "Soduko.java", Now Corrected To "Sudoku.java".
9. Delete VM Instance Using Google Cloud Shell. The Shell Is Somewhat User Friendly - I Missed Typed A Command Argument And The Shell Recommended The Right Command.
10. Delete Google Cloud Project "projsudoku9x9".
Conclusion
We had a problem to solve : a Sudoku puzzle. To solve the puzzle, we need compute resources. Google Cloud gives us instant resources via their infrastructure (IaaS). We were able to compile a Sudoku solver, input the puzzle state, and have the solver spit out a solution.
References
(1)http://venturebeat.com/2017/02/02/aws-posts-3-53-billion-in-revenue-in-q4-2016-up-47-from-last-year)
(2)http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3188817
(3)https://thenextweb.com/offers/2016/03/11/amazon-web-services-dominates-cloud-services-market/#.tnw_J0QPissD
(4)https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2015/11/30/what-diane-greene-lessons-at-vmware-tells-us-about-google-cloud/#6aa1ed0b120d
(5)https://bob-carpenter.github.io/games/sudoku/java_sudoku.html
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