On Monday 19 January 2009 05:10:12 Steve wrote:
> As I expore the logic of this game in detail it gets fascinating,
> but I would like to get the terminology straight in order to avoid
> mixups when communicating. On the Wiki Freecell page some basic terms
You probably mean the Wikipedia Freecell page. You shouldn't call "the
Wikipedia" "the Wiki" because there are many other wikis around, because of
the original wiki (
http://c2.com/cgi/wiki ) and because it's confusing.
> of the game are introduced: cascade, top card, tableau, foundation,
> cell card, empty cell, empty cascade, compete tableau, and partial
> tableau. I am not sure these are the best terms to use when designing
> a solver program.
> It seems simpler to say 'column' instead of 'cascade'. A 'column'
> could refer to the position (if empty) or to all the cards there (if
> there are some).
I agree that "column" is preferable to "cascade". In fact, I did not hear the
term "cascade" used much, and column seems to be preferable. "cascade" may
also be confused with a sequence of adjacent cards.
A column in my opinion is the place where you can place an arbitrary (but
naturally not unlimited) amount of cards, as long as they were either present
there at the beginning of the game, or placed on top of each other according
to the rules of the game. It's a place and there's a constant number of it,
and you can also refer to the cards in a certain column .
> Pulling up a random position from a game, there is a column with
> the following cards: 9d, 7s, 2s, Ks, 8d, 4c, 8c (which were originally
> dealt there), then cards that have been added: 7d, 6c, 5d, 4s, 3h.
> Would you call the 8c-3h, a 'tableau'? What do you call the 8c card?
> If you move, say 5h-4s-3h to another column, is that group of cards
> called a 'partial tableau'? That seems a bit cumbersome; perhaps
> 'block' and 'full block' would be better terms.
I'm not entirely sure what a "tableau" is in the context of Freecell and other
solitaire games, and a Google search for it (
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=tableau+cards&btnG=Search ) does not seem
to find anything definitive.
> Suppose you move the 3h to a freecell. The place the 3h is located
> is no longer a freecell, so what is it called, a 'cell'? This might
> be confused with an empty column.
I distinguish between an occupied freecell and a vacant freecell.
> Some plays are reversible and some are not. Given a particular
> 'position' (or state) of the game, there is a maximal set of positions
> reachable from it by reversible moves. Does that set have a name?
By "reversible" moves do you mean moves that lead to positions from which it
is still possible to reach the exact original positions using counter-moves?
If so, this is the Graph Theoretical concept called "Strongly connected
component":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strongly_connected_component
> My philosophy is: good terminology leads to clear thinking.
Indeed.
Regards,
Shlomi Fish
--
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Shlomi Fish http://www.shlomifish.org/
"The Human Hacking Field Guide" - http://xrl.us/bjn8q
<mauke> I'm not interested in what you're doing; what are you trying to
achieve?
<PerlJam> mauke: I'm trying to achieve world peace and this regex is
the last thing standing in my way! ;)
Received on Tue Jan 20 2009 - 05:44:29 IST