scrabble-solver v2.13.4

scrabble-solver

Available at: http://scrabble-solver.kamilmielnik.com/ (use npm version for better performance, your machine is most likely faster than this server)

Quick run

1. npm install -g scrabble-solver
2. scrabble-solver

Usage

• put your letters in the TILES input field and hit Enter to find possible solutions for them on the board
• space () means a blank tile (using blanks increases the time to find results)
• sort results by clicking on table headers
• INDEX is POINTS to #TILES ratio
• hover over a result to see where it fits on the board and find the word definition
• click on a result to put it on the board
• filtering results works with regular expressions (e.g. is$ for words ending with is)
• navigate through cells on the board with arrow keys
• when cell on the board is focused
  • type a letter to put a tile
  • hit Backspace, Delete or Space to remove a tile
  • hit Ctrl + B or Command + B to toggle tile blank (important, because blanks are worth 0 points)
  • hit Enter to search for results
• put a word in FIND WORD DEFINITION input field and hit Enter to find its definition

Full build

1. npm install
2. npm run build
3. npm start

Works with

• node 7.9.0

History

My baby.

Back in January 2012 I wrote 200 lines of C++ code to load up a dictionary, store it in a Trie structure, read up to 7 letters from console input and traverse the Trie structure to find all the words that could be created from provided letters. I did it for 200 PLN (about 60 USD back then) and it was my first money earned by programming (assuming that beer is not a currency).

I enjoyed working on it and wanted to enhance that with some visuals to take it to the next level. So I created a simple Windows Forms project in C#, added support for "blank" characters & displayed the results grouped by word length. And I left it like that.

Some time later I got familiar with WPF and somehow I got the idea it would be fun to enhance the C# solver with a visual board input. This would provide solver with information which would allow to find a move that will give you the most points. So in September 2014 I started working on a new C# WPF project, but I haven't got far with it.

Seasons change, time passes by, as the weeks become the months become the years ...

After getting experienced with JavaScript, I decided to tackle the challenge once again. I started a new project in February 2017. React on the front, node.js in the back. On September 13th 2017, five and a half years since the beginning, scrabble-solver@1.0.0 was released. And I saw it was good.

~My mind is at piece ever since. I don't even have nightmares anymore. Or dreams. Or goals.~

~It's at 1.4.0 now. I have added en-US & en-GB locales support, a mini tutorial and kept the dependencies up to date (e.g. upgraded React from 15 to 16).~

Seasons change, time passes by, as the weeks become the months become the years ...

Frontend development has changed, I've learned a few things. It's time for scrabble-solver@2.0.0. In 2019 I started to work on a new version. But due to many distractions the work is still ongoing. The plans for 2.0.0 are:

• new UI
• split the project into multiple packages (monorepo)
• abuse React hooks usage

I also have plans for 3.0.0:

• TypeScript

There's no deadline for this.