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🦌 - 2024 DAY 16 SOLUTIONS -🦌

Day 16: Reindeer Maze

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22 comments
  • C

    Yay more grids! Seemed like prime Dijkstra or A* material but I went with an iterative approach instead!

    I keep an array cost[y][x][dir], which is seeded at 1 for the starting location and direction. Then I keep going over the array, seeing if any valid move (step or turn) would yield to a lower best-known-cost for this state. It ends when a pass does not yield changes.

    This leaves us with the best-known-costs for every reachable state in the array, including the end cell (bit we have to take the min() of the four directions).

    Part 2 was interesting: I just happend to have written a dead end pruning function for part 1 and part 2 is, really, dead-end pruning for the cost map: remove any suboptimal step, keep doing so, and you end up with only the optimal steps. 'Suboptimal' here is a move that yields a higher total cost than the best-known-cost for that state.

    It's fast enough too on my 2015 i5:

     text
        
    day16  0:00.05  1656 Kb  0+242 faults
    
      
    • Very interesting approach. Pruning deadends by spawning additional walls is a very clever idea.

  • Haskell

    Rather busy today so late and somewhat messy! (Probably the same tomorrow...)

     
        
    import Data.List
    import Data.Map (Map)
    import Data.Map qualified as Map
    import Data.Maybe
    import Data.Set (Set)
    import Data.Set qualified as Set
    
    readInput :: String -> Map (Int, Int) Char
    readInput s = Map.fromList [((i, j), c) | (i, l) <- zip [0 ..] (lines s), (j, c) <- zip [0 ..] l]
    
    bestPath :: Map (Int, Int) Char -> (Int, Set (Int, Int))
    bestPath maze = go (Map.singleton start (0, Set.singleton startPos)) (Set.singleton start)
      where
        start = (startPos, (0, 1))
        walls = Map.keysSet $ Map.filter (== '#') maze
        [Just startPos, Just endPos] = map (\c -> fst <$> find ((== c) . snd) (Map.assocs maze)) ['S', 'E']
        go best edge
          | Set.null edge = Map.mapKeysWith mergePaths fst best Map.! endPos
          | otherwise =
              let nodes' =
                    filter (\(x, (c, _)) -> maybe True ((c <=) . fst) $ best Map.!? x) $
                      concatMap (step . (\x -> (x, best Map.! x))) (Set.elems edge)
                  best' = foldl' (flip $ uncurry $ Map.insertWith mergePaths) best nodes'
               in go best' $ Set.fromList (map fst nodes')
        step ((p@(i, j), d@(di, dj)), (cost, path)) =
          let rots = [((p, d'), (cost + 1000, path)) | d' <- [(-dj, di), (dj, -di)]]
              moves =
                [ ((p', d), (cost + 1, Set.insert p' path))
                  | let p' = (i + di, j + dj),
                    p `Set.notMember` walls
                ]
           in moves ++ rots
        mergePaths a@(c1, p1) b@(c2, p2) =
          case compare c1 c2 of
            LT -> a
            GT -> b
            EQ -> (c1, Set.union p1 p2)
    
    main = do
      (score, visited) <- bestPath . readInput <$> readFile "input16"
      print score
      print (Set.size visited)
    
      
  • C#

    Ended up modifying part 1 to do part 2 and return both answers at once.

     
        
    using System.Collections.Immutable;
    using System.Diagnostics;
    using Common;
    
    namespace Day16;
    
    static class Program
    {
        static void Main()
        {
            var start = Stopwatch.GetTimestamp();
    
            var smallInput = Input.Parse("smallsample.txt");
            var sampleInput = Input.Parse("sample.txt");
            var programInput = Input.Parse("input.txt");
    
            Console.WriteLine($"Part 1 small: {Solve(smallInput)}");
            Console.WriteLine($"Part 1 sample: {Solve(sampleInput)}");
            Console.WriteLine($"Part 1 input: {Solve(programInput)}");
    
            Console.WriteLine($"That took about {Stopwatch.GetElapsedTime(start)}");
        }
    
        static (int part1, int part2) Solve(Input i)
        {
            State? endState = null;
            Dictionary<(Point, int), int> lowestScores = new();
    
            var queue = new Queue<State>();
            queue.Enqueue(new State(i.Start, 1, 0, ImmutableHashSet<Point>.Empty));
            while (queue.TryDequeue(out var state))
            {
                if (ElementAt(i.Map, state.Location) is '#')
                {
                    continue;
                }
    
                if (lowestScores.TryGetValue((state.Location, state.DirectionIndex), out var lowestScoreSoFar))
                {
                    if (state.Score > lowestScoreSoFar) continue;
                }
    
                lowestScores[(state.Location, state.DirectionIndex)] = state.Score;
    
                var nextStatePoints = state.Points.Add(state.Location);
    
                if (state.Location == i.End)
                {
                    if ((endState is null) || (state.Score < endState.Score))
                        endState = state with { Points = nextStatePoints };
                    else if (state.Score == endState.Score)
                        endState = state with { Points = nextStatePoints.Union(endState.Points) };
                    continue;
                }
    
                // Walk forward
                queue.Enqueue(state with
                {
                    Location = state.Location.Move(CardinalDirections[state.DirectionIndex]),
                    Score = state.Score + 1,
                    Points = nextStatePoints,
                });
    
                // Turn clockwise
                queue.Enqueue(state with
                {
                    DirectionIndex = (state.DirectionIndex + 1) % CardinalDirections.Length,
                    Score = state.Score + 1000,
                    Points = nextStatePoints,
                });
    
                // Turn counter clockwise
                queue.Enqueue(state with
                {
                    DirectionIndex = (state.DirectionIndex + CardinalDirections.Length - 1) % CardinalDirections.Length,
                    Score = state.Score + 1000,
                    Points = nextStatePoints, 
                });
            }
    
            if (endState is null) throw new Exception("No end state found!");
            return (endState.Score, endState.Points.Count);
        }
    
        public static void DumpMap(Input i, ISet<Point>? points, Point current)
        {
            for (int row = 0; row < i.Bounds.Row; row++)
            {
                for (int col = 0; col < i.Bounds.Col; col++)
                {
                    var p = new Point(row, col);
                    Console.Write(
                        (p == current) ? 'X' :
                        (points?.Contains(p) ?? false) ? 'O' :
                        ElementAt(i.Map, p));
                }
    
                Console.WriteLine();
            }
    
            Console.WriteLine();
        }
    
        public static char ElementAt(string[] map, Point location) => map[location.Row][location.Col];
    
        public record State(Point Location, int DirectionIndex, int Score, ImmutableHashSet<Point> Points);
    
        public static readonly Direction[] CardinalDirections =
            [Direction.Up, Direction.Right, Direction.Down, Direction.Left];
    }
    
    public class Input
    {
        public string[] Map { get; init; } = [];
        public Point Start { get; init; } = new(-1, -1);
        public Point End { get; init; } = new(-1, -1);
        public Point Bounds => new(this.Map.Length, this.Map[0].Length);
    
        public static Input Parse(string file)
        {
            var map = File.ReadAllLines(file);
            Point start = new(-1, -1), end = new(-1, -1);
            foreach (var p in map
                .SelectMany((line, i) => new []
                {
                     new Point(i, line.IndexOf('S')),
                     new Point(i, line.IndexOf('E')),
                })
                .Where(p => p.Col >= 0)
                .Take(2))
            {
                if (map[p.Row][p.Col] is 'S') start = p;
                else end = p;
            }
    
            return new Input()
            {
                Map = map,
                Start = start,
                End = end,
            };
        }
    }
    
      
  • Haskell

    This one was surprisingly slow to run

  • Haskell

    ::: spoiler code

     haskell
        
    import Control.Arrow
    import Control.Monad
    import Control.Monad.RWS
    import Control.Monad.Trans.Maybe
    import Data.Array.Unboxed
    import Data.List
    import Data.Map qualified as M
    import Data.Maybe
    import Data.Set qualified as S
    
    data Dir = N | S | W | E deriving (Show, Eq, Ord)
    type Maze = UArray Pos Char
    type Pos = (Int, Int)
    type Node = (Pos, Dir)
    type CostNode = (Int, Node)
    type Problem = RWS Maze [(Node, [Node])] (M.Map Node Int, S.Set (CostNode, Maybe Node))
    
    parse = toMaze . lines
    
    toMaze :: [String] -> Maze
    toMaze b = listArray ((0, 0), (n - 1, m - 1)) $ concat b
      where
        n = length b
        m = length $ head b
    
    next :: Int -> (Pos, Dir) -> Problem [CostNode]
    next c (p, d) = do
        m <- ask
    
        let straigth = fmap ((1,) . (,d)) . filter ((/= '#') . (m !)) . return $ move d p
            turn = (1000,) . (p,) <$> rot d
    
        return $ first (+ c) <$> straigth ++ turn
    
    move N = first (subtract 1)
    move S = first (+ 1)
    move W = second (subtract 1)
    move E = second (+ 1)
    
    rot d
        | d `elem` [N, S] = [E, W]
        | otherwise = [N, S]
    
    dijkstra :: MaybeT Problem ()
    dijkstra = do
        m <- ask
        visited <- gets fst
        Just (((cost, vertex@(p, _)), father), queue) <- gets (S.minView . snd)
    
        let (prevCost, visited') = M.insertLookupWithKey (\_ a _ -> a) vertex cost visited
    
        case prevCost of
            Nothing -> do
                queue' <- lift $ foldr S.insert queue <$> (fmap (,Just vertex) <$> next cost vertex)
                put (visited', queue')
                tell [(vertex, maybeToList father)]
            Just c -> do
                if c == cost
                    then tell [(vertex, maybeToList father)]
                    else guard $ m ! p /= 'E'
                put (visited, queue)
        dijkstra
    
    solve b = do
        start <- getStart b
        end <- getEnd b
        let ((m, _), w) = execRWS (runMaybeT dijkstra) b (M.empty, S.singleton (start, Nothing))
            parents = M.fromListWith (++) w
            endDirs = (end,) <$> [N, S, E, W]
            min = minimum $ mapMaybe (`M.lookup` m) endDirs
            ends = filter ((== Just min) . (`M.lookup` m)) endDirs
            part2 =
                S.size . S.fromList . fmap fst . concat . takeWhile (not . null) $
                    iterate (>>= flip (M.findWithDefault []) parents) ends
        return (min, part2)
    
    getStart :: Maze -> Maybe CostNode
    getStart = fmap ((0,) . (,E) . fst) . find ((== 'S') . snd) . assocs
    
    getEnd :: Maze -> Maybe Pos
    getEnd = fmap fst . find ((== 'E') . snd) . assocs
    
    main = getContents >>= print . solve . parse
    
      
  • Dart

    I liked the flexibility of the path operator in the Uiua solution so much that I built a similar search function in Dart. Not quite as compact, but still an interesting piece of code that I will keep on hand for other path-finding puzzles.

    About 80 lines of code, about half of which is the super-flexible search function.

     
        
    import 'dart:math';
    import 'package:collection/collection.dart';
    import 'package:more/more.dart';
    
    List<Point<num>> d4 = [Point(1, 0), Point(-1, 0), Point(0, 1), Point(0, -1)];
    
    /// Returns cost to destination, plus list of routes to destination.
    /// Does Dijkstra/A* search depending on whether heuristic returns 1 or
    /// something better.
    (num, List<List<T>>) aStarSearch<T>(T start, Map<T, num> Function(T) fNext,
        int Function(T) fHeur, bool Function(T) fAtEnd) {
      var cameFrom = SetMultimap<T, T>.fromEntries([MapEntry(start, start)]);
    
      var ends = <T>{};
      var front = PriorityQueue<T>((a, b) => fHeur(a).compareTo(fHeur(b)))
        ..add(start);
      var cost = <T, num>{start: 0};
      while (front.isNotEmpty) {
        var here = front.removeFirst();
        if (fAtEnd(here)) {
          ends.add(here);
          continue;
        }
        var ns = fNext(here);
        for (var n in ns.keys) {
          var nCost = cost[here]! + ns[n]!;
          if (!cost.containsKey(n) || nCost < cost[n]!) {
            cost[n] = nCost;
            front.add(n);
            cameFrom.removeAll(n);
          }
          if (cost[n] == nCost) cameFrom[n].add(here);
        }
      }
    
      Iterable<List<T>> routes(T h) sync* {
        if (h == start) {
          yield [h];
          return;
        }
        for (var p in cameFrom[h]) {
          yield* routes(p).map((e) => e + [h]);
        }
      }
    
      var minCost = ends.map((e) => cost[e]!).min;
      ends = ends.where((e) => cost[e]! == minCost).toSet();
      return (minCost, ends.fold([], (s, t) => s..addAll(routes(t).toList())));
    }
    
    typedef PP = (Point, Point);
    
    (num, List<List<PP>>) solve(List<String> lines) {
      var grid = {
        for (var r in lines.indexed())
          for (var c in r.value.split('').indexed().where((e) => e.value != '#'))
            Point<num>(c.index, r.index): c.value
      };
      var start = grid.entries.firstWhere((e) => e.value == 'S').key;
      var end = grid.entries.firstWhere((e) => e.value == 'E').key;
      var dir = Point<num>(1, 0);
    
      fHeur(PP pd) => 1; // faster than euclidean distance.
      fNextAndCost(PP pd) => <PP, int>{
            for (var n in d4
                .where((n) => n != pd.last * -1 && grid.containsKey(pd.first + n)))
              (pd.first + n, n): ((n == pd.last) ? 1 : 1001) // (Point, Dir) : Cost
          };
      fAtEnd(PP pd) => pd.first == end;
    
      return aStarSearch<PP>((start, dir), fNextAndCost, fHeur, fAtEnd);
    }
    
    part1(List<String> lines) => solve(lines).first;
    
    part2(List<String> lines) => solve(lines)
        .last
        .map((l) => l.map((e) => e.first).toSet())
        .flattenedToSet
        .length;
    
    
      
  • Uiua

    Uiua's new builtin path operator makes this a breeze. Given a function that returns valid neighbours for a point and their relative costs, and another function to test whether you have reached a valid goal, it gives the minimal cost, and all relevant paths. We just need to keep track of the current direction as we work through the maze.

    (edit: forgot the Try It Live! link)

     
        
    Data  ← ≑°░°/$"_\n_" "#################\n#...#...#...#..E#\n#.#.#.#.#.#.#.#^#\n#.#.#.#...#...#^#\n#.#.#.#.###.#.#^#\n#>>v#.#.#.....#^#\n#^#v#.#.#.#####^#\n#^#v..#.#.#>>>>^#\n#^#v#####.#^###.#\n#^#v#..>>>>^#...#\n#^#v###^#####.###\n#^#v#>>^#.....#.#\n#^#v#^#####.###.#\n#^#v#^........#.#\n#^#v#^#########.#\n#S#>>^..........#\n#################"
    Dβ‚„    ← [1_0 Β―1_0 0_1 0_Β―1]
    End   ← ⊒⊚=@EData
    Costs ← :βˆ©β–½βŸœ:≑(β‰ @#⊑:Data⊒).β‰‘βŠŸβŠ™βŸœ(+1Γ—1000¬≑/Γ—=)+⟜:Dβ‚„βˆ©Β€Β°βŠŸ
    path(Costs|≍EndβŠ™β—ŒΒ°βŠŸ)⊟:1_0⊒⊚=@SData
    &p β§»β—΄β‰‘βŠ’/β—‡βŠ‚ &p :
    
    
      
  • Python

    Part 1: Run Dijkstra's algorithm to find shortest path.

    I chose to represent nodes using the location (i, j) as well as the direction dir faced by the reindeer.
    Initially I tried creating the complete adjacency graph but that lead to max recursion so I ended up populating graph for only the nodes I was currently exploring.

    Part 2: Track paths while performing Dijkstra's algorithm.

    First, I modified the algorithm to look through neighbors with equal cost along with the ones with lesser cost, so that it would go through all shortest paths.
    Then, I keep track of the list of previous nodes for every node explored.
    Finally, I use those lists to run through the paths backwards, taking note of all unique locations.

    Code:
     
        
    import os
    
    # paths
    here = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
    filepath = os.path.join(here, "input.txt")
    
    # read input
    with open(filepath, mode="r", encoding="utf8") as f:
        data = f.read()
    
    from collections import defaultdict
    from dataclasses import dataclass
    import heapq as hq
    import math
    
    # up, right, down left
    DIRECTIONS = [(-1, 0), (0, 1), (1, 0), (0, -1)]
    
    
    # Represent a node using its location and the direction
    @dataclass(frozen=True)
    class Node:
        i: int
        j: int
        dir: int
    
    
    maze = data.splitlines()
    m, n = len(maze), len(maze[0])
    
    # we always start from bottom-left corner (facing east)
    start_node = Node(m - 2, 1, 1)
    # we always end in top-right corner (direction doesn't matter)
    end_node = Node(1, n - 2, -1)
    
    # the graph will be updated lazily because it is too much processing
    #   to completely populate it beforehand
    graph = defaultdict(list)
    # track nodes whose all edges have been explored
    visited = set()
    # heap to choose next node to explore
    # need to add id as middle tuple element so that nodes dont get compared
    min_heap = [(0, id(start_node), start_node)]
    # min distance from start_node to node so far
    # missing values are treated as math.inf
    min_dist = {}
    min_dist[start_node] = 0
    # keep track of all previous nodes for making path
    prev_nodes = defaultdict(list)
    
    
    # utility method for debugging (prints the map)
    def print_map(current_node, prev_nodes):
        pns = set((n.i, n.j) for n in prev_nodes)
        for i in range(m):
            for j in range(n):
                if i == current_node.i and j == current_node.j:
                    print("X", end="")
                elif (i, j) in pns:
                    print("O", end="")
                else:
                    print(maze[i][j], end="")
            print()
    
    
    # Run Dijkstra's algo
    while min_heap:
        cost_to_node, _, node = hq.heappop(min_heap)
        if node in visited:
            continue
        visited.add(node)
    
        # early exit in the case we have explored all paths to the finish
        if node.i == end_node.i and node.j == end_node.j:
            # assign end so that we know which direction end was reached by
            end_node = node
            break
    
        # update adjacency graph from current node
        di, dj = DIRECTIONS[node.dir]
        if maze[node.i + di][node.j + dj] != "#":
            moved_node = Node(node.i + di, node.j + dj, node.dir)
            graph[node].append((moved_node, 1))
        for x in range(3):
            rotated_node = Node(node.i, node.j, (node.dir + x + 1) % 4)
            graph[node].append((rotated_node, 1000))
    
        # explore edges
        for neighbor, cost in graph[node]:
            cost_to_neighbor = cost_to_node + cost
            # The following condition was changed from > to >= because we also want to explore
            #   paths with the same cost, not just better cost
            if min_dist.get(neighbor, math.inf) >= cost_to_neighbor:
                min_dist[neighbor] = cost_to_neighbor
                prev_nodes[neighbor].append(node)
                # need to add id as middle tuple element so that nodes dont get compared
                hq.heappush(min_heap, (cost_to_neighbor, id(neighbor), neighbor))
    
    print(f"Part 1: {min_dist[end_node]}")
    
    # PART II: Run through the path backwards, making note of all coords
    
    visited = set([start_node])
    path_locs = set([(start_node.i, start_node.j)])  # all unique locations in path
    stack = [end_node]
    
    while stack:
        node = stack.pop()
        if node in visited:
            continue
        visited.add(node)
    
        path_locs.add((node.i, node.j))
    
        for prev_node in prev_nodes[node]:
            stack.append(prev_node)
    
    print(f"Part 2: {len(path_locs)}")
    
    
      
  • Rust

    Dijkstra's algorithm. While the actual shortest path was not needed in part 1, only the distance, in part 2 the path is saved in the parent hashmap, and crucially, if we encounter two paths with the same distance, both parent nodes are saved. This ensures we end up with all shortest paths in the end.

    Also on github

  • Rust

    Not sure if I should dump my full solution, its quite long. If its too long I'll delete it. Way over-engineered, and performs like it as well, quite slow.

    Quite proud of my hack for pt2. I walk back along the path, which is nothing special. But because of the turn costs, whenever a turn joins a straight, it makes the straight discontinuous:

     
        
     ###### 11043 ######
     10041  10042 ######
     ###### 11041 ######
    
      

    So I check the before and after cells, and make sure the previous is already marked as a short path, and check the after cell, to make sure its 2 steps apart, and ignore the middle. Dunno if anyone else has done the same thing, I've mostly managed to avoid spoilers today.

  • Javascript

    So my friend tells me my solution is close to Dijkstra but honestly I just tried what made sense until it worked. I originally wanted to just bruteforce it and get every single possible path explored but uh... Yeah that wasn't gonna work, I terminated that one after 1B operations.

    I created a class to store the state of the current path being explored, and basically just clone it, sending it in each direction (forward, 90 degrees, -90 degrees), then queue it up if it didn't fail. Using a priority queue (array based) to store them, I inverted it for the second answer to reduce the memory footprint (though ultimately once I fixed the issue with the algorithm, which turned out to just be a less than or equal to that should have been a less than, I didn't really need this).

    Part two "only" took 45 seconds to run on my Thinkpad P14 Gen1.

    My code was too powerful for Lemmy (or verbose): https://blocks.programming.dev/Zikeji/ae06ca1ca88649c99581eefce97a708e

22 comments