Tag Archives: chess

January 23, 2020

The Eight Queens

One solution to the puzzle.

I’ve written a lot lately about the physical versus the virtual. I’ve also written about algorithms and the role they play. In this post, I revisit both by exploring what is, for me, an old friend: The Eight Queens Puzzle. The goal is to place eight chess queens on a chessboard such that none can take another in a single move.

The puzzle is simple enough, yet just challenging enough, that it’s a good problem for first-year student programmers to solve. That’s where I met it, and it’s been a kind of “Hello, World!” algorithm for me ever since.

I thought it might be a fun way to explore a simple virtual reality.

12 Comments | tags: abstract system, algorithm, chess, chess queen, chessboard, computationalism, eight queens puzzle, information system, physical system, virtual reality | posted in Computers

December 6, 2013

Sideband #50: Pawn to King-4

By Wyrd Smythe

Spock Chess Last time I mentioned wanting to write a chess move parser since my earliest days of programming. Hard-core coders often see things in terms of the software behind them. For instance, I sometimes wonder about the software running my microwave oven. Andy Warhol drew our attention to how an artist is behind even a mundane soup can label. Similarly, every computer-driven item in your growing collection of smart tools and toys has a programmer or many behind it.

Dedicated coders also look at problems in terms of the software to solve them. When my (ex-)wife complained about the difficulty of scheduling teachers, rooms, and classes, for the year, I began pondering scheduling software. I think a big part of it is the challenge of solving a double puzzle. First you have to figure out the problem; then you have to figure out the software solution.

And one area that programmers find extremely attractive is games!

Leave a comment | tags: chess, chess move, chess move parser, games, Mastermind, parser, Pong, Python, recursive descent, recursive descent parser, software | posted in Computers, Sideband

December 4, 2013

Sideband #49: A Mazing Python

By Wyrd Smythe

amazing I don’t know if it’s having been in the saddle so long, having all this retirement time, or the magic of Python (perhaps all three), but I’ve made major advances in personal projects that have been on my drawing board for a very long time. One of them, in fact, goes back to my earliest days of programming in late 70s!

It’s certainly true that 35 years of writing computer software teaches you a few tricks. At the very least, you learn all sorts of things not to do! On some level, the computer language doesn’t matter, but a highly expressive language makes some kinds of development not just easier, but actually fun!

And Python! I haven’t laughed with delight over a computer language since Lisp!

3 Comments | tags: chess, chess move, chess move parser, computer programming, graph theory, maze generator, mazes, programming, Python | posted in Computers, Sideband