Design a jigsaw puzzle (OOD)

Object-Oriented Design: Jigsaw Puzzle

Design an object-oriented model for a jigsaw puzzle game.

Requirements

• The puzzle consists of a set of pieces that can be assembled into a final board (e.g., an R x C grid).
• Each piece has 4 sides (top/right/bottom/left) that must match adjacent pieces when placed.
• Pieces can be rotated (0°, 90°, 180°, 270°).
• The system should support:
  • Initializing a puzzle from a collection of pieces.
  • Placing/removing a piece on the board.
  • Validating whether a placement is legal (in-bounds, cell empty, and sides match neighbors).
  • Checking whether the puzzle is solved.

Clarifications (state assumptions if needed)

• You may assume a rectangular puzzle where each piece occupies one cell in a grid.
• You may represent side “matching” using IDs/keys (e.g., tab#42 matches blank#42 ) or a comparable abstraction.

Deliverables

• Propose core classes, key fields, and methods.
• Explain how rotation affects side matching.
• Discuss extensibility (e.g., different board shapes, irregular pieces, multiplayer, UI separation).