More Info...

Countdown is a popular teatime television quiz show in the UK. It is popular with students so that is probably why there are many other Countdown solvers of this type available. The best I've seen is this version from ITV which i think is officially licenced by the show.

My Solution

It is coded in PHP/MYSQL and uses Codeigniter a lightweight rapid development PHP framework. The database of words is taken from a free PDF dictionary I found online, imported to MYSQL, so is not particularly up-to-date or comprehensive.

The numbers round solver evaluates all solutions to provide the correct equations. I tried two methods, one that calculated all the possible combinations on-the-fly and one that stored them in a table. The second solution was quicker and so that is what is in use.

Why do it?

Mainly as an exercise in learning PHP. It was a good way to familiarize with PHP and evaluate some of the features offered by the Codeigniter framework.