DSSudokuSolver - A JavaScript Sudoku solving algorithm

I wrote DSSudokuSolver - a sudoku solving algorithm a while back. Is there any possibility that this algorithm can be improved?

Original Algorithm:

```
CleanElements = function(comp_ary, Qsudoku){
for(i=0; i<9; i++){
for(j=0; j<9; j++){
/*if(Qsudoku[i][j] != ""){
comp_ary[i][j]=[];
}*/
for(k=0; k<9; k++){
i_index = comp_ary[i][k].indexOf(Qsudoku[i][j]);
if(i_index != -1){
comp_ary[i][k].splice(i_index, 1);
}
j_index = comp_ary[k][j].indexOf(Qsudoku[i][j]);
if(j_index != -1){
comp_ary[k][j].splice(j_index, 1);
}
}
if(i < 3){
i_min = 0;
i_max = 2;
}
else if(i < 6){
i_min = 3;
i_max = 5;
}
else{
i_min = 6;
i_max = 8;
}

if(j < 3){
j_min = 0;
j_max = 2;
}
else if(j < 6){
j_min = 3;
j_max = 5;
}
else{
j_min = 6;
j_max = 8;
}

for(i_box=i_min; i_box<=i_max; i_box++){
for(j_box=j_min; j_box<=j_max; j_box++){
index = comp_ary[i_box][j_box].indexOf(Qsudoku[i][j]);
if(index != -1){
comp_ary[i_box][j_box].splice(index, 1);
}
}
}
}
}
return comp_ary;
}

FindElements = function(comp_ary, Qsudoku){
for(i=0; i<9; i++){
for(j=0; j<9; j++){
if(comp_ary[i][j].length == 1){
if (Qsudoku[i][j] == ""){
Qsudoku[i][j] = comp_ary[i][j][0];
comp_ary[i][j] = [];
}
}
}
}
return Q

It's not a huge improvement, just taking a stab at a few slight tweaks:

var sudoku = {
    CleanElements:function(comp_ary, Qsudoku){
        var i_factor,
            j_factor,
            i_min,
            i_max,
            i_index,
            j_index,
            index;

        for(var i=9; i--;){
            i_factor = (3*Math.floor(i/3));
            i_min = 6 - i_factor;
            i_max = 8 - i_factor;

            for(var j=9; j--;){
                j_factor = (3*Math.floor(j/3));
                j_min = 6 - j_factor;
                j_max = 8 - j_factor;

                for(var k=9; k--;){
                    i_index = comp_ary[i][k].indexOf(Qsudoku[i][j]);
                    j_index = comp_ary[k][j].indexOf(Qsudoku[i][j]);

                    if(i_index !== -1){
                        comp_ary[i][k].splice(i_index,1);
                    }

                    if(j_index !== -1){
                        comp_ary[k][j].splice(j_index,1);
                    }
                }

                for(var i_box=i_max; i_box>=i_min; i_box--){
                    for(var j_box=j_max; j_box>=j_min; j_box--){
                        index = comp_ary[i_box][j_box].indexOf(Qsudoku[i][j]);
                        if(index !== -1){
                            comp_ary[i_box][j_box].splice(index, 1);
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
        return comp_ary;
    },
    FindElements:function(comp_ary, Qsudoku){
        for(var i=9; i--;){
            for(var j=9; j--;){
                if(comp_ary[i][j].length === 1){
                    // in case you were specifically checking that it was an empty string and not a null / undefined / etc, change to Qsudoku[i][j] === ''
                    if (Qsudoku[i][j].length === 0){
                        Qsudoku[i][j] = comp_ary[i][j][0];
                        comp_ary[i][j] = [];
                    }
                }
            }
        }
        return Qsudoku;
    },
    IsThereNullElement:function(Qsudoku){
        for(var i=9; i--;){
            for(var j=9; j--;){
                // same here, change to === '' if specifically needed
                if(Qsudoku[i][j].length === 0){
                    return false;
                }
            }
        }
        return true;
    },
    InitEmptyArray:function(){
        var empty_ary = Array();

        for(var i=9; i--;){
            empty_ary[i] = Array();

            for(var j=9; j--;){
                empty_ary[i][j] = Array();

                for(var k=9; k--;){
                    empty_ary[i][j][k] = (k+1)+'';
                }
            }
        }
        return empty_ary;
    },
    DSSolve:function(Qsudoku){
        var self = this,
            comp_ary = self.InitEmptyArray(),
            Qsudoku;

        this.comp_ary_old = comp_ary;

        for(var i=5000; i--;){
            comp_ary = self.CleanElements(comp_ary, Qsudoku);
            // console.log(comp_ary);

            if(sudoku.comp_ary_old === comp_ary){
                // implement this.
            } else {
                sudoku.comp_ary_old = comp_ary;
            }

            Qsudoku = self.FindElements(comp_ary, Qsudoku);
            // console.log(Qsudoku);

            if(self.IsThereNullElement(Qsudoku)){
                return Qsudoku;
            }

            if(i === 0){
                return null;
            }
        }
    }
};

And then you call it with this (Qsudoku being the value you want to pass in):

sudoku.DSSolve(Qsudoku);

Quick breakdown of changes:

• changed all for loops and final while loop to decrement (faster in all browsers)

• changed == '' to .length === 0 (faster in all browsers)

• applied strict comparison === rather than implicit == (faster on certain browsers)

• changed multiple if/else if/else statements to applying Math.floor to compute reduction factor

• encapsulated all functions within object to allow for use of object comp_ary_old (instead of using window)

• added explicit var statement for variable declaration (prevents bubbling up to window)

• moved variables to top of respective function and assigned value at point where the fewest loops occur while retaining value integrity

• changed the .toString() function to the +'' trick (its a miniscule improvement, more of a "squeeze every byte" thing, so if you would rather stick with code clarity switch it back to .toString())

I haven't tested this at all, so no benchmarks to show if it actually improves performance, but theoretically it should maintain your code operations while executing faster. Figured it was worth a shot, since no one else answered. Hope it helps!

StackExchange Code Review Q#32138, answer score: 5