Book Image

Learning JavaScript Data Structures and Algorithms - Third Edition

Book Image

Learning JavaScript Data Structures and Algorithms - Third Edition

Overview of this book

A data structure is a particular way of organizing data in a computer to utilize resources efficiently. Data structures and algorithms are the base of every solution to any programming problem. With this book, you will learn to write complex and powerful code using the latest ES 2017 features. Learning JavaScript Data Structures and Algorithms begins by covering the basics of JavaScript and introduces you to ECMAScript 2017, before gradually moving on to the most important data structures such as arrays, queues, stacks, and linked lists. You will gain in-depth knowledge of how hash tables and set data structures function as well as how trees and hash maps can be used to search files in an HD or represent a database. This book serves as a route to take you deeper into JavaScript. You’ll also get a greater understanding of why and how graphs, one of the most complex data structures, are largely used in GPS navigation systems in social networks. Toward the end of the book, you’ll discover how all the theories presented in this book can be applied to solve real-world problems while working on your own computer networks and Facebook searches.
Table of Contents (22 chapters)
Title Page
Dedication
Packt Upsell
Contributors
Preface
Index

Backtracking algorithms


Backtracking is a strategy used to find and build a solution incrementally. We start with a possible move and we try to solve the problem with the selected move. If it does not work, we backtrack and then we select another move and so on until we have the problem solved. Due to this behavior, backtracking algorithms will try all possible moves (or a few moves if a solution is found sooner) to solve a problem.

There are some famous problems that can be solved with backtracking:

  • The Knight’s tour problem
  • N Queen problem
  • Rat in a maze
  • Sudoku Solver

Note

In this book, we will learn the Rat in a Maze and Sudoku Solver problems as they are easier to understand. However, you can find the source code for other backtracking problems along with the source code bundle of this book.

Rat in a Maze

Suppose we have a matrix with size N*N, and each position of the matrix is a block. The position (or block) can be free (value 1) or it can be blocked (value 0), as shown in the following diagram...