Valid Sudoku - Problem
Determine if a 9 × 9 Sudoku board is valid. Only the filled cells need to be validated according to the following rules:
• Each row must contain the digits 1-9 without repetition
• Each column must contain the digits 1-9 without repetition
• Each of the nine 3 × 3 sub-boxes must contain the digits 1-9 without repetition
Note: A Sudoku board (partially filled) could be valid but is not necessarily solvable. Only the filled cells need to be validated according to the mentioned rules.
Input & Output
Example 1 — Valid Sudoku
$
Input:
board = [["5","3",".",".","7",".",".",".","."],
["6",".",".","1","9","5",".",".","."],
[".","9","8",".",".",".",".","6","."],
["8",".",".",".","6",".",".",".","3"],
["4",".",".","8",".","3",".",".","1"],
["7",".",".",".","2",".",".",".","6"],
[".","6",".",".",".",".","2","8","."],
[".",".",".","4","1","9",".",".","5"],
[".",".",".",".","8",".",".","7","9"]]
›
Output:
true
💡 Note:
Each row, column, and 3×3 sub-box contains unique digits 1-9 (ignoring empty cells). No duplicates found in any region.
Example 2 — Invalid Sudoku (Row Duplicate)
$
Input:
board = [["8","3",".",".","7",".",".",".","."],
["6",".",".","1","9","5",".",".","."],
[".","9","8",".",".",".",".","6","."],
["8",".",".",".","6",".",".",".","3"],
["4",".",".","8",".","3",".",".","1"],
["7",".",".",".","2",".",".",".","6"],
[".","6",".",".",".",".","2","8","."],
[".",".",".","4","1","9",".",".","5"],
[".",".",".",".","8",".",".","7","9"]]
›
Output:
false
💡 Note:
The first column contains two '8's (at positions [0,0] and [3,0]), which violates the column uniqueness rule.
Example 3 — Invalid Sudoku (Sub-box Duplicate)
$
Input:
board = [["5","3",".",".","7",".",".",".","."],
["6",".",".","1","9","5",".",".","."],
[".","9","5",".",".",".",".","6","."],
["8",".",".",".","6",".",".",".","3"],
["4",".",".","8",".","3",".",".","1"],
["7",".",".",".","2",".",".",".","6"],
[".","6",".",".",".",".","2","8","."],
[".",".",".","4","1","9",".",".","5"],
[".",".",".",".","8",".",".","7","9"]]
›
Output:
false
💡 Note:
The top-left 3×3 sub-box contains two '5's (at positions [0,0] and [2,2]), which violates the sub-box uniqueness rule.
Constraints
- board.length == 9
- board[i].length == 9
- board[i][j] is a digit 1-9 or '.'.
Visualization
Tap to expand
Understanding the Visualization
1
Input Board
9×9 grid with digits 1-9 and empty cells '.'
2
Check Rules
Validate rows, columns, and 3×3 sub-boxes for duplicates
3
Result
Return true if valid, false if duplicates found
Key Takeaway
🎯 Key Insight: Use hash sets to detect duplicates efficiently - each digit can appear at most once in each row, column, and 3×3 sub-box
💡
Explanation
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