The n-queens problem


 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
The Lounge War Stories The n-queens problem
# 1  
Old 08-01-2013
The n-queens problem

Our first computer science semester involved programming recursively. The teacher riled against the fact that we were learning our programming skills on an old DEC-VAX machine. He therefore challenged us to bring the system to its knees using a program of our choice, because he argued it would confront the university directors with the fact that the machine needed replacement with something more modern and stable.
So a co-ed of mine and I set out to program the n-queens problem, recursively mind you, and gradually increased the value of n. At some point we felt the calculations were taking too long and still in hope that we would finally meet the challenge, we stepped into the teacher's office. Unfortunately the teacher we were supposed to see wasn't there, but his colleague was, who was also less than impressed with our initiative. He told us off by saying that the machine should be used by other people too. The machine was still in use after 2 semesters of computer science classes.

Last edited by figaro; 08-01-2013 at 08:01 PM..
# 2  
Old 08-02-2013
So you flogged the server and caused yourself trouble, well, perhaps you need to consider working within the limitations. Sometimes the cash for a replacement is just not there.

It does remind me of someone sacked for exhausting a mainframe by calculating natural factors of ever higher numbers in an attempt to find some large prime numbers. It ground it to a near dead stop for all other users (they multi-threaded the logic too) so I would take that as a caution.




Robin

Last edited by rbatte1; 08-02-2013 at 09:15 AM..
# 3  
Old 08-02-2013
A VAX? Your teacher's kind of right -- you've got mounds more computing power in your average graphics card these days.
# 4  
Old 10-22-2013
Quote:
Originally Posted by Corona688
A VAX? Your teacher's kind of right -- you've got mounds more computing power in your average graphics card these days.
I disagree. A VAX makes a fantastic learning tool. Any undergraduate CS assignment will run just fine on a VAX. Undergrads are learning how this stuff works, they don't need monster power.

Just as a 16 year old with a shiny new driver's license does not need a Ferrari, as he does not yet have the skills to use that much performance.
# 5  
Old 10-22-2013
It's certainly not useless, I'm sure it could anchor a number of boats. Smilie Probably more qualified to drive, in age and talent, than some students too.

It's the kind of system sysadmins keep out of affection and must invent uses for. Certainly they're good educational systems. I cut my teeth on one. [edit] My mistake, it was a Sun system, anyway.

Assuming your don't need the power is, still, sometimes an unfortunate assumption.
Login or Register to Ask a Question

Previous Thread | Next Thread

9 More Discussions You Might Find Interesting

1. IP Networking

Router problem or ISP problem ?

Hi everyone, I am experiencing discontinuity of Internet service, this started 1 month ago. Everything worked very well for 1 year of intensive use, but now, I have problems reaching my gateway. The gateway is not my router but a node belonging to my ISP and I share the same public IP with... (3 Replies)
Discussion started by: remic
3 Replies

2. UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

sed Or Grep Problem OR Terminal Problem?

I don't know if you guys get this problem sometimes at Terminal but I had been having this problem since yesterday :( Maybe I overdid the Terminal. Even the codes that used to work doesn't work anymore. Here is what 's happening: * I wanted to remove lines containing digits so I used this... (25 Replies)
Discussion started by: Nexeu
25 Replies

3. IP Networking

Problem with forwarding emails (SPF problem)

Hi, This is rather a question from a "user" than from a sys admin, but I think this forum is apropriate for the question. I have an adress with automatic email forwarding and for some senders (two hietherto), emails are bouncing. This has really created a lot of problems those two time so I... (0 Replies)
Discussion started by: carwe
0 Replies

4. AIX

AIX OS problem? network problem?

Dear ALL. I installed AIX OS on customer sites. but Only one site is too slow when I connected telnet, ftp.. Ping is too fast. but telnet and FTP is not connected.. of course i check the configuration file on aix but it's normal. Do any Idea?? thanks in advance. - Jun - (3 Replies)
Discussion started by: Jeon Jun Seok
3 Replies

5. UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

DHCP problem and eth1 problem

At work I am trying to get this one Linux machine (let's call it ctesgm07) to behave like another Linux machine that we have (let's call it test007). test007 returns the following version info: cat /etc/debian_version: lenny/sid uname -a: Linux test007 2.6.27-7-generic #1 SMP Tue Nov 4... (0 Replies)
Discussion started by: sllinux
0 Replies

6. AIX

user login problem & Files listing problem.

1) when user login to the server the session got colosed. How will resolve? 2) While firing the command ls -l we are not able to see the any files in the director. but over all view the file system using the command df -g it is showing 91% used. what will be the problem? Thanks in advance. (1 Reply)
Discussion started by: pernasivam
1 Replies

7. Solaris

problem in finding a hardware problem

Hi I am right now facing a strange hardware problem. System get booted with the following error: Fatal Error Reset CPU 0000.0000.0000.0003 AFSR 0100.0000.0000.0000 SCE AFAR 0000.07c6.0000.1000 SC Alert: Host System has Reset It happen 4 or 5 times and get the same error every time.I... (8 Replies)
Discussion started by: girish.batra
8 Replies

8. Shell Programming and Scripting

problem with dd command or maybe AFS problem

Hi, folks. Sorry for bothering, but maybe someone could help me please. The problem is the following: there is some script that copies files from local file system to AFS. The copying is performed with dd command. The script copies data into some AFS volumes. The problem appeared with one... (0 Replies)
Discussion started by: Anta
0 Replies

9. UNIX for Advanced & Expert Users

SSH Problem auth problem

Hi, Just recently we seem to be getting the following error message relating to SSH when we run the UNIX script in background mode: warning: You have no controlling tty. Cannot read confirmation.^M warning: Authentication failed.^M Disconnected; key exchange or algorithm negotiation... (1 Reply)
Discussion started by: budrito
1 Replies
Login or Register to Ask a Question