"I also think than a single loop might improve performance slightly."

Yep, and it is more simple as well: 
sub mark_attacks {
   my ($r,$c,$array) = @_;
   my ($u,$d) = ($r,$r);

   # to be removed - just for visualization during debugging
   $array->[$r]->[$c] = 'Q';

   for ($c+1..$size-1) {   
      $array->[$r]->[$_] = 0;
      $array->[--$u]->[$_] = 0 if $u > 0;
      $array->[++$d]->[$_] = 0 if $d < $size-1;
   }

}

[download]
Thanks for the tips. :)

jeffa

L-LL-L--L-LL-L--L-LL-L--
-R--R-RR-R--R-RR-R--R-RR
B--B--B--B--B--B--B--B--
H---H---H---H---H---H---
(the triplet paradiddle with high-hat)

In reply to (jeffa) 2Re: Trying to solve N-Queens by jeffa
in thread Trying to solve N-Queens by jeffa

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.