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javaartificial-intelligencen-queens

java:implement 8 queen using depth first search


i am try to implement 8 queen using depth search for any initial state it work fine for empty board(no queen on the board) ,but i need it to work for initial state if there is a solution,if there is no solution for this initial state it will print there is no solution

Here is my code:

public class depth {
   public static void main(String[] args) {
       //we create a board
       int[][] board = new int[8][8];
       board [0][0]=1;
       board [1][1]=1;
       board [2][2]=1;
       board [3][3]=1;
       board [4][4]=1;
       board [5][5]=1;
       board [6][6]=1;
       board [7][7]=1;

       eightQueen(8, board, 0, 0, false);
       System.out.println("the solution as pair");
       for(int i=0;i<board.length;i++){
           for(int j=0;j<board.length;j++)
               if(board[i][j]!=0)

               System.out.println("  ("+i+" ,"+j +")");
       }
       System.out.println("the number of node stored in memory "+count1);
   }
      public static int count1=0;
     public static void eightQueen(int N, int[][] board, int i, int j, boolean found) {

    long startTime = System.nanoTime();//time start

    if (!found) {
        if (IsValid(board, i, j)) {//check if the position is valid
            board[i][j] = 1;

            System.out.println("[Queen added at (" + i + "," + j + ")");
            count1++;
            PrintBoard(board);


            if (i == N - 1) {//check if its the last queen
                found = true;
                PrintBoard(board);
                double endTime = System.nanoTime();//end the method time

                double duration = (endTime - startTime)*Math.pow(10.0, -9.0);
                System.out.print("total Time"+"= "+duration+"\n");
            }
            //call the next step
            eightQueen(N, board, i + 1, 0, found);
        } else {

            //if the position is not valid & if reach the last row we backtracking
            while (j >= N - 1) {
                int[] a = Backmethod(board, i, j);
                i = a[0];
                j = a[1];

                System.out.println("back at (" + i + "," + j + ")");
                PrintBoard(board);
            }
            //we do the next call
            eightQueen(N, board, i, j + 1, false);
        }
    }

}

public static int[] Backmethod(int[][] board, int i, int j) {
    int[] a = new int[2];
    for (int x = i; x >= 0; x--) {
        for (int y = j; y >= 0; y--) {
            //search for the last queen
            if (board[x][y] != 0) {
                //deletes the last queen and returns the position
                board[x][y] = 0;
                a[0] = x;
                a[1] = y;
                return a;
            }
        }
    }
    return a;
}

public static boolean IsValid(int[][] board, int i, int j) {

    int x;
    //check the queens in column
    for (x = 0; x < board.length; x++) {
        if (board[i][x] != 0) {
            return false;
        }
    }
    //check the queens in row
    for (x = 0; x < board.length; x++) {
        if (board[x][j] != 0) {
            return false;
        }
    }
    //check the queens in the diagonals
    if (!SafeDiag(board, i, j)) {
        return false;
    }
    return true;
}

public static boolean SafeDiag(int[][] board, int i, int j) {

    int xx = i;
    int yy = j;
    while (yy >= 0 && xx >= 0 && xx < board.length && yy < board.length) {
        if (board[xx][yy] != 0) {
            return false;
        }
        yy++;
        xx++;
    }
    xx = i;
    yy = j;
    while (yy >= 0 && xx >= 0 && xx < board.length && yy < board.length) {
        if (board[xx][yy] != 0) {
            return false;
        }
        yy--;
        xx--;
    }
    xx = i;
    yy = j;
    while (yy >= 0 && xx >= 0 && xx < board.length && yy < board.length) {
        if (board[xx][yy] != 0) {
            return false;
        }
        yy--;
        xx++;
    }
    xx = i;
    yy = j;
    while (yy >= 0 && xx >= 0 && xx < board.length && yy < board.length) {
        if (board[xx][yy] != 0) {
            return false;
        }
        yy++;
        xx--;
    }
    return true;
}
public static void PrintBoard(int[][] board) {
    System.out.print(" ");
    for (int j = 0; j < board.length; j++) {
        System.out.print(j);
    }
    System.out.print("\n");
    for (int i = 0; i < board.length; i++) {
        System.out.print(i);
        for (int j = 0; j < board.length; j++) {
            if (board[i][j] == 0) {
                System.out.print(" ");
            } else {
                System.out.print("Q");
            }
        }
        System.out.print("\n");
    }
}


}

for example for this initial state it give me the following error:

Exception in thread "main" java.lang.StackOverflowError

i am stuck, i think the error is infinite call for the method how to solve this problem.

any idea will be helpful,thanks in advance.

note:the broad is two dimensional array,when i put (1) it means there queen at this point.

note2: we i put the initial state as the following it work:

       board [0][0]=1;
       board [1][1]=1;
       board [2][2]=1;
       board [3][3]=1;
       board [4][4]=1;
       board [5][5]=1;
       board [6][6]=1;
       board [7][1]=1; 

Solution

  • [EDIT: Added conditional output tip.]

    To add to @StephenC's answer:

    This is a heck of a complicated piece of code, especially if you're not experienced in programming Java.

    I executed your code, and it outputs this over and over and over and over (and over)

    back at (0,0)
     01234567
    0
    1 Q
    2  Q
    3   Q
    4    Q
    5     Q
    6      Q
    7       Q
    back at (0,0)
    

    And then crashes with this

    Exception in thread "main" java.lang.StackOverflowError
        at java.nio.Buffer.<init>(Unknown Source)
        ...
        at java.io.PrintStream.print(Unknown Source)
        at java.io.PrintStream.println(Unknown Source)
        at Depth.eightQueen(Depth.java:56)
        at Depth.eightQueen(Depth.java:60)
        at Depth.eightQueen(Depth.java:60)
        at Depth.eightQueen(Depth.java:60)
        at Depth.eightQueen(Depth.java:60)
        ...
    

    My first instinct is always to add some System.out.println(...)s to figure out where stuff is going wrong, but that won't work here.

    The only two options I see are to

    • Get familiar with a debugger and use it to step through and analyze why it's never stopping the loop
    • Break it down man! How can you hope to deal with a massive problem like this without breaking it into digestible chunks???

    Not to mention that the concept of 8-queens is complicated to begin with.


    One further thought:

    System.out.println()s are not useful as currently implemented, because there's infinite output. A debugger is the better solution here, but another option is to somehow limit your output. For example, create a counter at the top

    private static final int iITERATIONS = 0;
    

    and instead of

    System.out.println("[ANUMBERFORTRACING]: ... USEFUL INFORMATION ...")
    

    use

    conditionalSDO((iITERATIONS < 5), "[ANUMBERFORTRACING]: ... USEFUL INFORMATION");
    

    Here is the function:

    private static final void conditionalSDO(boolean b_condition, String s_message)  {
       if(b_condition)  {
           System.out.println(s_message);
       }
    }
    

    Another alternative is to not limit the output, but to write it to a file.

    I hope this information helps you.

    (Note: I edited the OP's code to be compilable.)