[Leetcode] 51. N-Queens

The n-queens puzzle is the problem of placing n queens on an n×n chessboard such that no two queens attack each other.

Given an integer n, return all distinct solutions to the n-queens puzzle.

Each solution contains a distinct board configuration of the n-queens' placement, where 'Q' and '.' both indicate a queen and an empty space respectively.

For example,
There exist two distinct solutions to the 4-queens puzzle:

[
 [".Q..",  // Solution 1
  "...Q",
  "Q...",
  "..Q."],

 ["..Q.",  // Solution 2
  "Q...",
  "...Q",
  ".Q.."]
]

import java.util.ArrayList;
public class Solution {
    public ArrayList<String[]> solveNQueens(int n) {
        ArrayList<String[]> result = new ArrayList<String[]>();
        if(n <= 0) return result;
        int[] columns = new int[n];
        helper(n, result, columns, 0);
        return result;
    }
    private void helper(int n, ArrayList<String[]> result, int[] columns, int row){
        if(row == n){
            String[] list = new String[n];
            for(int i = 0; i < n; i++){
                StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer();
                for(int j = 0; j < n; j++){
                    if(columns[i] == j){
                        sb.append("Q");
                    } else {
                        sb.append(".");
                    }
                }
                list[i] = sb.toString();
            }
            result.add(list);
            return;
        }
        for(int i = 0; i < n; i++){
            if(isValid(columns, row, i)){
                columns[row] = i;
                helper(n, result, columns, row + 1);
            }
        }
    }
    private boolean isValid(int[] columns, int row1, int column1){
        for(int row2 = 0; row2 < row1; row2++){
            if(columns[row2] == column1) return false;
            int diff = Math.abs(column1 - columns[row2]);
            if(diff == (row1 - row2)) return false;
        }
        return true;
    }
}