The Eight-Queen Puzzle in Programming in Lua Fourth Edition - recursion

Question

I'm currently reading Programming in Lua Fourth Edition and I'm already stuck on the first exercise of "Chapter 2. Interlude: The Eight-Queen Puzzle."
The example code is as follows:
N = 8 -- board size
-- check whether position (n, c) is free from attacks
function isplaceok (a, n ,c)
for i = 1, n - 1 do -- for each queen already placed
if (a[i] == c) or -- same column?
(a[i] - i == c - n) or -- same diagonal?
(a[i] + i == c + n) then -- same diagonal?
return false -- place can be attacked
end
end
return true -- no attacks; place is OK
end
-- print a board
function printsolution (a)
for i = 1, N do -- for each row
for j = 1, N do -- and for each column
-- write "X" or "-" plus a space
io.write(a[i] == j and "X" or "-", " ")
end
io.write("\n")
end
io.write("\n")
end
-- add to board 'a' all queens from 'n' to 'N'
function addqueen (a, n)
if n > N then -- all queens have been placed?
printsolution(a)
else -- try to place n-th queen
for c = 1, N do
if isplaceok(a, n, c) then
a[n] = c -- place n-th queen at column 'c'
addqueen(a, n + 1)
end
end
end
end
-- run the program
addqueen({}, 1)
The code's quite commented and the book's quite explicit, but I can't answer the first question:
Exercise 2.1: Modify the eight-queen program so that it stops after
printing the first solution.
At the end of this program, a contains all possible solutions; I can't figure out if addqueen (n, c) should be modified so that a contains only one possible solution or if printsolution (a) should be modified so that it only prints the first possible solution?
Even though I'm not sure to fully understand backtracking, I tried to implement both hypotheses without success, so any help would be much appreciated.

Answer 1

At the end of this program, a contains all possible solutions
As far as I understand the solution, a never contains all possible solutions; it either includes one complete solution or one incomplete/incorrect one that the algorithm is working on. The algorithm is written in a way that simply enumerates possible solutions skipping those that generate conflicts as early as possible (for example, if first and second queens are on the same line, then the second queen will be moved without checking positions for other queens, as they wouldn't satisfy the solution anyway).
So, to stop after printing the first solution, you can simply add os.exit() after printsolution(a) line.

Answer 2

Listing 1 is an alternative to implement the requirement. The three lines, commented respectively with (1), (2), and (3), are the modifications to the original implementation in the book and as listed in the question. With these modifications, if the function returns true, a solution was found and a contains the solution.
-- Listing 1
function addqueen (a, n)
if n > N then -- all queens have been placed?
return true -- (1)
else -- try to place n-th queen
for c = 1, N do
if isplaceok(a, n, c) then
a[n] = c -- place n-th queen at column 'c'
if addqueen(a, n + 1) then return true end -- (2)
end
end
return false -- (3)
end
end
-- run the program
a = {1}
if not addqueen(a, 2) then print("failed") end
printsolution(a)
a = {1, 4}
if not addqueen(a, 3) then print("failed") end
printsolution(a)
Let me start from Exercise 2.2 in the book, which, based on my past experience to explain "backtracking" algorithms to other people, may help to better understand the original implementation and my modifications.
Exercise 2.2 requires to generate all possible permutations first. A straightforward and intuitive solution is in Listing 2, which uses nested for-loops to generate all permutations and validates them one by one in the inner most loop. Although it fulfills the requirement of Exercise 2.2, the code does look awkward. Also it is hard-coded to solve 8x8 board.
-- Listing 2
local function allsolutions (a)
-- generate all possible permutations
for c1 = 1, N do
a[1] = c1
for c2 = 1, N do
a[2] = c2
for c3 = 1, N do
a[3] = c3
for c4 = 1, N do
a[4] = c4
for c5 = 1, N do
a[5] = c5
for c6 = 1, N do
a[6] = c6
for c7 = 1, N do
a[7] = c7
for c8 = 1, N do
a[8] = c8
-- validate the permutation
local valid
for r = 2, N do -- start from 2nd row
valid = isplaceok(a, r, a[r])
if not valid then break end
end
if valid then printsolution(a) end
end
end
end
end
end
end
end
end
end
-- run the program
allsolutions({})
Listing 3 is equivalent to List 2, when N = 8. The for-loop in the else-end block does what the whole nested for-loops in Listing 2 do. Using recursive call makes the code not only compact, but also flexible, i.e., it is capable of solving NxN board and board with pre-set rows. However, recursive calls sometimes do cause confusions. Hope the code in List 2 helps.
-- Listing 3
local function addqueen (a, n)
n = n or 1
if n > N then
-- verify the permutation
local valid
for r = 2, N do -- start from 2nd row
valid = isplaceok(a, r, a[r])
if not valid then break end
end
if valid then printsolution(a) end
else
-- generate all possible permutations
for c = 1, N do
a[n] = c
addqueen(a, n + 1)
end
end
end
-- run the program
addqueen({}) -- empty board, equivalent allsolutions({})
addqueen({1}, 2) -- a queen in 1st row and 1st column
Compare the code in Listing 3 with the original implementation, the difference is that it does validation after all eight queens are placed on the board, while the original implementation validates every time when a queen is added and will not go further to next row if the newly-added queen causes conflicts. This is all what "backtracking" is about, i.e. it does "brute-force" search, it abandons the search branch once it finds a node that will not lead to a solution, and it has to reach a leaf of the search tree to determine it is a valid solution.
Back to the modifications in Listing 1.
(1) When the function hits this point, it reaches a leaf of the search tree and a valid solution is found, so let it return true representing success.
(2) This is the point to stop the function from further searching. In original implementation, the for-loop continues regardless of what happened to the recursive call. With modification (1) in place, the recursive call returns true if a solution was found, the function needs to stop and to propagate the successful signal back; otherwise, it continues the for-loop, searching for other possible solutions.
(3) This is the point the function returns after finishing the for-loop. With modification (1) and (2) in place, it means that it failed to find a solution when the function hits this point, so let it explicitly return false representing failure.