Abstract
The n-queens problem is to place n queens (where n > 0) on an n -by-n chessboard so that no queen is threatened by another one. According to the rules of chess, this is equivalent to the requirement that no two queens be on the same row or the same column or on a common diagonal. For some values of n this is possible but for some values (for example, for n =2) there is no solution. In this chapter we show how one solution for a particular value of n is found with a depth-first search. The program derivation illustrates both recursion and loop introduction in a nontrivial setting. It also illustrates how to handle data structures like sequences in a program derivation.
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1998 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Back, RJ., von Wright, J. (1998). The N-Queens Problem. In: Refinement Calculus. Graduate Texts in Computer Science. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-1674-2_24
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-1674-2_24
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-98417-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-1674-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive