Creating and solving mazes with Go
Programming Snapshot – Go Mazes
© Photo by Henri Lajarrige Lombard on Unsplash
Mazes fascinated even the ancient Greeks. Mike Schilli uses his Go programming skills to create a maze and then efficiently travel through it.
In Europe, mazes are said to have come into fashion during the 15th century, mostly on manorial estates where guests were politely invited to "lose themselves" in gardens segregated by high hedges. However, winding paths (some of which even lead you in circles), where you need to make it from a starting point to an endpoint, can also be drawn on paper or simulated on computers. Algorithms usually represent a maze's path system internally as a graph along the edges of which the virtual explorer traverses from one node to the next, discarding dead ends, breaking out of endless loops, and eventually arriving at the destination node.
Computational handling of mazes is divided into two tasks: creating mazes and traversing them as effectively as possible by using a solver. You wouldn't think it possible, but on Amazon you can actually find a book entitled Mazes for Programmers [1]. The Kindle version of this book is a total failure due to font problems, but the paper edition shows some useful methods for creating and solving mazes.
From Cell to Cell
A maze consists of a matrix of MxN cells. In Figure 1, red arrows show the directions in which a traveler advances from cell to cell. These options then define the walls that are drawn to separate a cell from its neighbors.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Linux Foundation Report Indicates AI Driving Tech Hiring
Within growing security and skills gaps, AI has been found to be a positive driving force behind tech hiring trends in Europe.
-
United Nations Open Source Portal Goes Live
A new open source portal seeks to coordinate and scale open source efforts across the United Nations system.
-
KDE Linux Drops AUR
KDE Linux developers have dropped the Arch User Repository from the build pipeline due to security concerns; other distributions should consider doing the same.
-
California May Exempt Linux from Its Age-Verification Law
After backlash from the Linux community, California may be backing off on its promise to force all operating systems to verify age, but one platform may still have to comply.
-
Another Logic Bug Found in Linux Kernel
Qualys has discovered a vulnerability in the Linux kernel that can be used to elevate standard user privileges.
-
Ubuntu Core 26 Offers Game-Changing Enterprise Features
Ubuntu Core 26 could be a game-changer for organizations looking for increased security and reliability.
-
AI Flooding the Linux Kernel Security Mailing List
AI is giving Linus Torvalds a headache, but not in the way you might think.
-
Top Priorities for Open Source Pros Seeking a New Job
Professional fulfillment tops the list, according to LPI report.
-
Container-Based Fedora Hummingbird Designed for Agent-First Builders
Fedora Hummingbird brings the same approach to the host OS as it does to containers to level up security.
-
Linux kernel Developers Considering a Kill Switch
With the rise of Linux vulnerabilities, the kernel developers are now considering adding a component that could help temporarily mitigate against them… in the form of a kill switch.