Matchstick Solver

A high-performance package for solving matchstick equation puzzles.

What are Matchstick Equations?

Matchstick equations are puzzles where you have an equation represented by matchsticks, and you need to move a certain number of matchsticks to make the equation valid.

For example, given the incorrect equation 1+1=3, you could move one matchstick from the 3 to make 1+1=2, which is correct.

Installation

npm install matchstick-solver

Usage

This package supports both ESM (ECMAScript Modules) and CommonJS formats.

// ESM import
import MatchstickSolver from 'matchstick-solver';

// CommonJS require
const MatchstickSolver = require('matchstick-solver');

// Create a solver instance
const solver = new MatchstickSolver();

// Initialize the solver (async)
await solver.init();

// Load precomputed solutions for O(1) lookups
await solver.initializeSolver('./precomputed_equations.json');

// Solve a matchstick equation
const solutions = await solver.findSolutions('1+2=4', 1);
console.log(solutions);

Features

• High Performance: Built on WebAssembly for lightning-fast solutions
• O(1) Solution Lookups: Transforms the problem from a tree search to constant-time Hamming distance calculations
• Consistent Performance: Solution time remains constant regardless of search depth
• Solve matchstick equation puzzles with any number of moves
• Supports various mathematical operators (+, -, ×, /, =)
• Configurable number of matchsticks to move
• Includes flipped solutions
• Detailed step-by-step solutions
• Dual ESM/CommonJS module support

Performance

The package uses a WebAssembly implementation that transforms the traditional tree-search approach into a constant-time lookup. This means:

• Solutions are found in microseconds instead of seconds or minutes
• Performance is consistent regardless of the number of moves required
• Even complex puzzles requiring multiple moves resolve instantly

License

MIT