Solving Tower of Hanoi Program in C

Esha Gupta
Associat e Senior Execut ive
Updated on Apr 15, 2024 13:12 IST
Tower of Hanoi Puzzle is a brainteaser that involves moving a stack of discs
between three pegs, adhering to specific constraints. Let us read more
about it!

The Tower of Hanoi is a classic mathematical puzzle. It consists of three rods (or
pegs) and several disks which are of different sizes, which can slide onto any rod.
The puzzle starts with the disks that are neatly stacked in ascending order of size
on one rod, the smallest disk on top, thus forming a conical shape. Here, we will see
a Tower of Hanoi Program in C.

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Objective :

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The goal is to move the entire stack to another rod, following these very basic rules
given below:

Only one disk can be moved at a time.

Each move consists of taking the upper disk f rom one of the stacks
and placing it on top of the other.
No disk may be placed on top of a smaller disk.

Source: Mathspp

Let’s Write a Simple C Program for Solving this Puzzle :

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 Copy code

#include < stdio.h>

// Recursive C function to demonstrate the solution of the Tower of Hanoi problem

void towerOfHanoi(int n, char from_rod, char to_rod, char aux_rod)
{
if (n == 1)
{
printf("\n Shift disk 1 from peg %c to peg %c", from_rod, to_rod);
return;
}
towerOfHanoi(n-1, from_rod, aux_rod, to_rod);
printf("\n Shift disk %d from peg %c to peg %c", n, from_rod, to_rod);
towerOfHanoi(n-1, aux_rod, to_rod, from_rod);
}

int main()
{
int n = 4 ; // Setting the count of disks
towerOfHanoi(n, 'A', 'C', 'B'); // Here, A, B, and C represent the pegs' identifiers
return 0;
}

Output :
Shif t disk 1 f rom peg A to peg B
Shif t disk 2 f rom peg A to peg C
Shif t disk 1 f rom peg B to peg C
Shif t disk 3 f rom peg A to peg B

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o n 16 -Apr-20 24.
Shif t disk 1 f rom peg C to peg A
Shif t disk 2 f rom peg C to peg B
Shif t disk 1 f rom peg A to peg B
Shif t disk 4 f rom peg A to peg C
Shif t disk 1 f rom peg B to peg C
Shif t disk 2 f rom peg B to peg A
Shif t disk 1 f rom peg C to peg A
Shif t disk 3 f rom peg B to peg C
Shif t disk 1 f rom peg A to peg B
Shif t disk 2 f rom peg A to peg C
Shif t disk 1 f rom peg B to peg C

The Tower of Hanoi puzzle with n disks can be solved in a minimum of 2 n−1 steps.

This presentation shows that a puzzle with 4 disks has taken 2 4 – 1 = 15 steps.

The output illustrates the solution to the Tower of Hanoi puzzle with 4 disks.
Starting with all disks on peg A, the moves sequentially shift disks between pegs,
ensuring a larger disk never lands on a smaller one. The steps gradually relocate the
disks, with the largest disk (disk 4) reaching its target peg (peg C) midway through.
The subsequent moves rearrange the smaller disks around it until all disks are
stacked on peg C in their original order.

Thus, our puzzle is solved.

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Thus, the Tower of Hanoi program in C showcases the power of recursion to solve
problems that might initially seem complex. This centuries-old puzzle demonstrates
how breaking a problem down into simpler instances of itself can lead to an elegant
solution. The C implementation effectively translates the iterative nature of the
puzzle into clear code steps. By understanding this algorithm, one gains insights into
the recursive problem-solving approach and appreciates the efficiency and simplicity
with which C handles such challenges.

FAQs

What is the Tower of Hanoi problem?

How do you solve the Tower of Hanoi problem in C?

What is the base case in the recursive solution f or the Tower of

Hanoi?

How do you calculate the minimum number of moves required to solve

the Tower of Hanoi f or 'n' disks?

Can the Tower of Hanoi be solved iteratively?

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