Glossary · Phase 7 · Software engineering
Exhaustive test
A test that tries every possible input, so passing proves the claim instead of just making it likely.
Try it now
Scores flow up the tree: each player takes the best option for themselves.
Learn it properly
Project: an unbeatable game opponent · Game state and rules, minimax with a cache, and an exhaustive test that proves it never loses. About 45 minutes.
Other terms from the same lesson
- alpha-beta pruning: A speed-up for minimax that skips moves that can't change the decision. It gives the same answer while looking at far fewer positions.
- game tree: Every position a game can reach, branching at each move. Game programs look ahead by searching it.
- minimax: Choosing a move by assuming each player always picks what's best for them, and scoring each position by that perfect play.
- negamax: A shorter way to write minimax: each player maximizes their own score, and a score changes sign as it passes to the other player.
Never trained an AI?
Teach a small one to write, right in your browser. It takes about 20 seconds and needs no account.