Word-Search-Solver

A Java-based word search solver that locates target words within a character grid across all 8 directions (horizontal, vertical, and diagonal), supporting both forward and backward matches. Correctness is validated using JUnit 5 tests and the project is built with Apache Maven.

Features

• Searches in 8 directions: N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW
• Supports forward and reverse word matching
• Reads a grid + word list from a text file
• Prints each word with the start and end coordinates (row:col)
• Includes JUnit tests for directional cases and edge cases

Input Format

The program accepts a single text file as a command-line argument.

• Line 1: grid dimensions in the form ROWSxCOLS (example: 3x3)
• Next ROWS lines: the character grid, with characters separated by spaces
• Remaining lines: words to find (whitespace is ignored)

Example:
3x3
A B C
D E F
G H I
ABC
AEI

Output Format

For each word, the program prints:
WORD startRow:startCol endRow:endCol
Example:
ABC 0:0 0:2
AEI 0:0 2:2

Requirements

• Java 24
• Apache Maven

Notes

• Assumes correctly formatted input files.
• The search logic checks all directions from each grid cell and prints the first match found for each word.