Could i get some help with this one

Question

the aim of this project is to make a n by n maze and traverse this. if, while traversing the maze the system realises that there is a dead end it turns back. My problem is that sometimes it turns back and sometimes it doesnt. Here, below is the method for traversing the maze. Could i get a second pair of eyes to help me out a bit with this code?
     * Prints out the current maze
    public void show()
         for (int i=0;i<array.length;i++)
            for (int j=0; j<array.length;j++)
System.out.print(array[i][j]) ;
System.out.println();
* traverses through the maze
* @param row: the current row
* @param column: the current column
public void traverse(int row, int column)
if ((row==3)&&(column==column-1))//checks if the array has reached the end
System.out.println("array is solved");
}else
if(array[row-1][column]=='.')//checks if should move up
array[row][column]='x';//marks path
array[row-1][column]='x';//marks path
System.out.println();
show();
traverse(row-1,column);
}else
if (array[row+1][column]=='.')//checks if should move down
array[row][column]='x';//marks path
array[row+1][column]='x';//marks path
System.out.println();
show();
traverse(row+1,column);
}else
if(array[row][column+1]=='.')//checks if should move left
array[row][column]='x'; //marks path
array[row][column+1]='x';//marks path
System.out.println();
show();
traverse(row,column+1);
}else
if ((row!=3)&&(column!=0))
if(array[row][column-1]=='.')//checks if should move right
array[row][column]='x'; //marks path
array[row][column-1]='x';//marks path
System.out.println();
show();
traverse(row,column-1);
}else/*1*/ if((array[row-1][column]=='#')||((array[row-1][column]=='*'))&&(array[row+1][column]=='#')||(array[row+1][column]=='*')&&(array[row][column+1]=='#')||(array[row][column+1]=='*'))
//checks if up is clear to move back
//checks if down is clear so could move back
//checks if right is clear to move back
if(row==3&&column-1==0)//checks if at the beginning of the array
System.out.println("MAze cannot be solved");
}else
if (array[row][column-1]=='x')//checks if behind has a x to move
array[row][column]='*';//prints dead end
array[row][column-1]='.';
System.out.println();
show();
traverse(row,column-1);
}else/*2*/ if((array[row+1][column]=='#')||(array[row+1][column]=='*')&&(array[row][column-1]=='#')||(array[row][column-1]=='*')&&(array[row][column+1]=='#')||(array[row][column+1]=='*'))
//checks if left is clear to move back
//checks if right is clear to move back
//checks if up is clear to move back
if(row-1==3&&column==0)//checks if at the begining of the maze
System.out.println("MAze cannot be solved");
}else if (array[row-1][column]=='x')//checks if behind as been marked
array[row][column]='*';//marks as dead end
array[row-1][column]='.';
System.out.println();
show();
traverse(row-1,column);
}else/*3*/ if((array[row+1][column]=='#')||(array[row+1][column]=='*')&&(array[row][column-1]=='#')||(array[row][column-1]=='*')&&(array[row][column+1]=='#')||(array[row][column+1]=='*'))
//checks if right is clear to move back
// checks if left is clear to move back
//checks if up is clear to move back
if (array[row-1][column]=='x')//checks if behind as been marked as a path
array[row][column]='*';//marks as dead end
array[row-1][column]='.';
System.out.println();
show();
traverse(row-1,column);
} else/*4*/ if((array[row][column-1]=='#')||(array[row][column-1]=='*')&&(array[row+1][column]=='#')||(array[row+1][column]=='*')&&(array[row-1][column]=='#')||(array[row-1][column]=='*'))
//checks if right is clear to move back
//checks if down is clear to move back
//checks if up is clear to move back
if (array[row][column+1]=='x')//checks if behind has been marked as a path
array[row][column]='*';//marks as dead end
array[row][column+1]='.';
System.out.println();
show();
traverse(row,column+1);

Answer 1

morgalr wrote:
That is truely one of the better threads that I've seen on the net for maze traversal.Forget "for maze traversal". That was one of the most interesting of all the threads I've seen here in quite a while. My sincerest admiration to those who contributed and eventually worked it out (and it wasn't me that's for sure), and especially to Keith. Impressive!