Solving a Variant of N-Queens in Haskell: Backtracking, Optimization, and Benchmarks
2025-06-24
This blog post details solving a variant of the N-Queens puzzle found on LinkedIn using Haskell. The puzzle involves placing N queens on a colored N x N board such that each row, column, and color region contains exactly one queen, with no two queens diagonally adjacent. The author explores several optimization techniques, including backtracking, elimination, early dead-end detection, and candidate ranking. The resulting Haskell solution is benchmarked against an SMT solver, demonstrating significant performance improvements through efficient data structures and algorithmic refinements. The code elegantly handles the problem's complexities, showcasing Haskell's strengths in functional programming.
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N-Queens