sudoku.py

def cross(A, B):
    "Cross product of elements in A and elements in B."
    return [a+b for a in A for b in B]

digits   = '123456789'
rows     = 'ABCDEFGHI'
cols     = digits
squares  = cross(rows, cols)
unitlist = ([cross(rows, c) for c in cols] +
        [cross(r, cols) for r in rows] +
        [cross(rs, cs) for rs in ('ABC','DEF','GHI') for cs in ('123','456','789')])
units = dict((s, [u for u in unitlist if s in u]) 
        for s in squares)
peers = dict((s, set(sum(units[s],[]))-set([s]))
        for s in squares)

def parse_grid(grid):
    """Convert grid to a dict of possible values, {square: digits}, or
    return False if a contradiction is detected."""
    ## To start, every square can be any digit; then assign values from the grid.
    values = dict((s, digits) for s in squares)
    for s,d in grid_values(grid).items():
        if d in digits and not assign(values, s, d):
            return False ## (Fail if we can't assign d to square s.)
    return values


def grid_values(grid):
    "Convert grid into a dict of {square: char} with '0' or '.' for empties."
    chars = [c for c in grid if c in digits or c in '0.']
    assert len(chars) == 81
    return dict(zip(squares, chars))

print squares
print len(unitlist), unitlist