> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://mayanktyagi3111.gitbook.io/interview-prep/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://mayanktyagi3111.gitbook.io/interview-prep/graphs-bfs-and-dfs/sliding-puzzle.md).

# Sliding Puzzle

On a 2x3 `board`, there are 5 tiles represented by the integers 1 through 5, and an empty square represented by 0.

A move consists of choosing `0` and a 4-directionally adjacent number and swapping it.

The state of the board is *solved* if and only if the `board` is `[[1,2,3],[4,5,0]].`

Given a puzzle board, return the least number of moves required so that the state of the board is solved. If it is impossible for the state of the board to be solved, return -1.

**Examples:**

```
Input: board = [[1,2,3],[4,0,5]]
Output: 1
Explanation: Swap the 0 and the 5 in one move.
```

```
Input: board = [[1,2,3],[5,4,0]]
Output: -1
Explanation: No number of moves will make the board solved.
```

```
Input: board = [[4,1,2],[5,0,3]]
Output: 5
Explanation: 5 is the smallest number of moves that solves the board.
An example path:
After move 0: [[4,1,2],[5,0,3]]
After move 1: [[4,1,2],[0,5,3]]
After move 2: [[0,1,2],[4,5,3]]
After move 3: [[1,0,2],[4,5,3]]
After move 4: [[1,2,0],[4,5,3]]
After move 5: [[1,2,3],[4,5,0]]
```

```
Input: board = [[3,2,4],[1,5,0]]
Output: 14
```

**Note:**

* `board` will be a 2 x 3 array as described above.
* `board[i][j]` will be a permutation of `[0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]`.

```java
class Solution {
    public int slidingPuzzle(int[][] board) {
        int[][] dir = { { 1, 0 }, { 0, 1 }, { -1, 0 }, { 0, -1 } };
        Queue<String> q = new LinkedList<>();
        String req = "123450";
        char str[] = new char[6];
        for (int i = 0; i < 6; i++)
            str[i] = (char) (board[i / 3][i % 3] + '0');

        Set<String> set = new HashSet<>();
        String s = new String(str);
        q.add(s);
        set.add(s);
        int count = 0;
        while (q.size() != 0) {
            int size = q.size();
            while (size-- > 0) {
                String state = q.poll();
                boolean isSame = true;
                int index = -1;
                for (int i = 0; i < 6; i++) {
                    if (state.charAt(i) != req.charAt(i))
                        isSame = false;
                    if (state.charAt(i) == '0')
                        index = i;
                }
                if (isSame)
                    return count;
                set.add(s);
                int x = index / 3, y = index % 3;
                for (int i = 0; i < 4; i++) {
                    int newX = x + dir[i][0], newY = y + dir[i][1];
                    if (newX >= 0 && newX < 2 && newY >= 0 && newY < 3) {
                        int toSwap = 3 * newX + newY;
                        char[] newState = state.toCharArray();
                        swap(newState, index, toSwap);
                        String newS = new String(newState);
                        if (!set.contains(newS))
                            q.add(newS);
                        set.add(newS);
                    }
                }
            }
            count++;
        }
        return -1;
    }

    public void swap(char[] str, int i, int j) {
        char t = str[i];
        str[i] = str[j];
        str[j] = t;
    }
}
```


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