Stacks

Stacks
Stacks

Outline I

1 Stacks
Stack Operations

2 Array Representation of Stacks

3 Linked Representation of Stacks

4 Applications of Stacks

5 Arithmetic Expressions; Polish Notation

Stacks
Stacks

1 Stacks
Stack Operations

2 Array Representation of Stacks

3 Linked Representation of Stacks

4 Applications of Stacks

5 Arithmetic Expressions; Polish Notation

Stacks
Stacks

Stacks I

A stack is a list of elements in which an element can be inserted

or deleted only at one end.
The end is referred to as the “top of stack”.
So elements are removed from the stack in the reverse order of
that in which they were inserted into the stack.
This way a stack is a LIFO (Last in First Out) or FILO (First in Last
Out)data structure.
Stacks
Stacks
Stack Operations

1 Stacks
Stack Operations

2 Array Representation of Stacks

3 Linked Representation of Stacks

4 Applications of Stacks

5 Arithmetic Expressions; Polish Notation

Stacks
Stacks
Stack Operations

Stack Operations I

Special terminology is used to refer to the two basic operations

associated with stack:
I PUSH: is the term used to insert an element into the stack.
I POP: is the term used to delete an element from the stack.
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Stacks
Stack Operations

Stack Operations: Example I

Say following six elements are pushed in order onto an empty

stack: AAA, BBB, CCC, DDD, EEE, FFF
Following figures depict the above operations:
Stacks
Array Representation of Stacks

1 Stacks
Stack Operations

2 Array Representation of Stacks

3 Linked Representation of Stacks

4 Applications of Stacks

5 Arithmetic Expressions; Polish Notation

Stacks
Array Representation of Stacks

Array Representation of Stacks I

Can be maintained using arrays or linked list.

We shall discuss discuss array representation representation of
stack.
Array representation requires following:
I A linear array named as STACK.
I A pointer variable TOP which contains the location of the top
element of the stack.
I A variable MAXSTK which gives the maximum number of
elements that can be held by the stack.
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Array Representation of Stacks

Array Representation of Stacks II

The condition TOP == 0 or TOP == NULL will indicate that the

stack is empty.
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Array Representation of Stacks

Operations on Stack

Operations: PUSH and POP.

We have already already looked into them. So, its time to discuss
them formally.
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Array Representation of Stacks

Algorithm for PUSH

Following algorithm pushes (inserts)ITEM into STACK.

PUSH(STACK, TOP, MAXSTK, ITEM)
This procedure pushes an ITEM onto a stack.
1. [Stack already filled?]
If TOP = MAXSTK, then: Print: OVERFLOW, and Return.
2. Set TOP := TOP + 1. [Increases TOP by 1.]
3. Set STACK[TOP] := ITEM. [Inserts ITEM in new TOP position.]
4. Return.
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Array Representation of Stacks

Algorithm for POP

Following algorithm pops (deletes) ITEM from the STACK.

POP(STACK, TOP, ITEM)
This procedure deletes the top element of STACK and assigns it
to the variable ITEM.
1. [Stack has an item to be removed?]
If TOP = 0, then: Print: UNDERFLOW, and Return.
2. Set ITEM := STACK[TOP]. [Assigns TOP element to ITEM.]
3. Set TOP := TOP - 1. [Decreases TOP by 1.]
4. Return.
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Linked Representation of Stacks

1 Stacks
Stack Operations

2 Array Representation of Stacks

3 Linked Representation of Stacks

4 Applications of Stacks

5 Arithmetic Expressions; Polish Notation

Stacks
Linked Representation of Stacks

Linked Representation of Stacks I

Can be maintained using one-way list or singly linked list.

Linked representation requires following:
I The INFO fields of the nodes hold the elements of the stack.
I The LINK fields hold pointers to the neighboring element in
the stack.
I The START pointer of the linked list behaves as the TOP
pointer variable of the stack.
I The null pointer of the last node in the list signals the bottom
of stack.
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Linked Representation of Stacks

Linked Representation of Stacks II

The condition TOP == NULL will indicate that the stack is empty.
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Linked Representation of Stacks

Algorithm for PUSH

Following algorithm pushes (inserts)ITEM into STACK.

PUSH LINKSTACK(INFO, LINK, TOP, AVAIL, ITEM): This proce-
dure pushes an ITEM into a linked stack

1. [Available space?] If AVAIL = NULL, then Write OVERFLOW and Exit

2. [Remove first node from AVAIL list]
Set NEW := AVAIL and AVAIL := LINK[AVAIL].
3. Set INFO[NEW] := ITEM [Copies ITEM into new node]
4. Set LINK[NEW] := TOP [New node points to the original top node in the stack]
5. Set TOP = NEW [Reset TOP to point to the new node at the top of the stack]

6. Exit.
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Linked Representation of Stacks

Algorithm for POP

Following algorithm pops (deletes) ITEM from the STACK.

POP LINKSTACK(INFO, LINK, TOP, AVAIL, ITEM): This proce-
dure deletes the top element of a linked stack and assigns it to
the variable ITEM

1. [Stack has an item to be removed?]

IF TOP = NULL then Write: UNDERFLOW and Exit.
2. Set ITEM := INFO[TOP] [Copies the top element of stack into ITEM]
3. Set TEMP := TOP and TOP = LINK[TOP]
[Remember the old value of the TOP pointer in TEMP and reset TOP to point to
the next element in the stack ]
4. [Return deleted node to the AVAIL list]
Set LINK[TEMP] = AVAIL and AVAIL = TEMP.

5. Exit.
Stacks
Applications of Stacks

1 Stacks
Stack Operations

2 Array Representation of Stacks

3 Linked Representation of Stacks

4 Applications of Stacks

5 Arithmetic Expressions; Polish Notation

Stacks
Applications of Stacks

Applications of Stacks

Stacks are widely used computer science.

Their specific applications are:
I Management of Function Calls
I Evaluation of Expressions
I Implementation of certain algorithms (e.g., Quick Sort)
Stacks
Arithmetic Expressions; Polish Notation

1 Stacks
Stack Operations

2 Array Representation of Stacks

3 Linked Representation of Stacks

4 Applications of Stacks

5 Arithmetic Expressions; Polish Notation

Stacks
Arithmetic Expressions; Polish Notation

Evaluation of Expressions I

Operators Precedence:
I In arithmetic expressions operators precedence is observed:

• Highest: Exponentiation (↑)

• Next highest: Multiplication (∗) and division (/)
• Lowest: Addition (+) and subtraction (−)

An Example:
I Evaluate: 2 ↑ 3 + 5 ∗ 2 ↑ 2 − 12/6
I Answer: 26
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Arithmetic Expressions; Polish Notation

Evaluation of Expressions II

An Important Fact:
I Parentheses’ alter the precedence of operators.

An Example:
I (A + B) ∗ C 6= A + (B ∗ C)
I (2 + 3) ∗ 7 = 35 while 2 + (3 ∗ 7) = 23

How computer evaluates the arithmetic expressions? – is the

question we want to seek answer for.
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Arithmetic Expressions; Polish Notation

Notations for Expressions I

Infix Notations:
I Expressions in which operator lies between the operands
are referred to as infix notations.
I A+B, C-D, P*F, · · · all are infix notations.
I A+(B*C) and (A+B)*C are distinguished by parentheses or
by applying the operators precedence discussed above.
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Arithmetic Expressions; Polish Notation

Notations for Expressions II

Prefix or Polish Notations:

I Named in honour of Polish mathematician, Jan Lukasiewiez,
refer to the expressions in which the operator symbol is placed
before its two operands.
I +AB, -CD, *PF, · · · all are examples of prefix or polish ex-
pressions.
I Simple infix expressions can be converted to polish expres-
sions as follows:
• (A + B) ∗ C = [+AB] ∗ C = ∗ + ABC
• A + (B ∗ C) = A + [∗BC] = +A ∗ BC
• (A + B)/(C − D) = [+AB]/[−CD]/ + AB − CD
I An important property of these notations is that they are
parentheses free.
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Arithmetic Expressions; Polish Notation

Notations for Expressions III

Postfix or Reverse Polish Notations

I Refer to the expressions in which operator is placed after its
two operands.
I AB+, CD-, PF*. . . all are examples of postfix or reverse pol-
ish notations.
I Like prefix notations, they are also parentheses’ free.
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Arithmetic Expressions; Polish Notation

How Computer Evaluates Expressions? I

Expressions are represented in infix notations and use of paren-

theses is very common.
Computer may apply the operators precedence and parentheses’
rules and evaluate the expression.
But, this process is not feasible in terms of computer timing (tim-
ing complexity)as computer takes a lot of time to resolve paren-
theses’.
So, the computer first converts an infix expression into an equiv-
alent postfix expression and then evaluates it.
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Arithmetic Expressions; Polish Notation

How Computer Evaluates Expressions? II

Following figure depicts the process:

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Arithmetic Expressions; Polish Notation

How Computer Evaluates Expressions? III

Clearly following two procedures (algorithms) are required:

I Algorithm 1: Converting an infix expression to an equivalent
postfix expression.
I Algorithm 2: Evaluating the postfix expression.

For each algorithm, Stack is the main tool to be utilized.

Stacks
Arithmetic Expressions; Polish Notation

Algorithm 1 I

Conversion of an infix expression to an equivalent postfix expres-

sion.
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Arithmetic Expressions; Polish Notation

Algorithm 1 II

POLISH(Q, P): Suppose Q is an arithmetic expression written in infix notation.

This algorithm finds the equivalent postfix expression P.
1. Push ”(” onto STACK, and add ”)” to the end of Q.
2. Scan Q from left to right and repeat Steps 3 to 6 for each element of Q until the STACK is empty:
3. If an operand is encountered, add it to P.
4. If a left parenthesis is encountered, push it onto STACK.
5. If an operator ⊗ is encountered, then:
(a) Repeatedly pop from STACK and add to P each operator (on the top of STACK) which has
the same precedence as or higher precedence than ⊗.
(b) Add ⊗ to STACK.
[End of If structure.]
6. If a right parenthesis is encountered, then:
(a) Repeatedly pop from STACK and add to P each operator (on the top of STACK) until a left
parenthesis is encountered.
(b) Remove the left parenthesis. [Do not add the left parenthesis to P.]
[End of If structure.]
[End of Step 2 loop.]

7. Exit.
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Arithmetic Expressions; Polish Notation

Algorithm 1-Example
arithmetic infix expression Q : A + (B ∗ C − (D/E ↑ F ) ∗ G) ∗ H
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Arithmetic Expressions; Polish Notation

Algorithm 2

Evaluating the postfix expression.

This algorithm finds the VALUE of an arithmetic expression P written in postfix
notation.

1. Add a right parenthesis ”)” at the end of P. [This acts as a sentinel.]

2. Scan P from left to right and repeat Steps 3 and 4 for each element of P until the sentinel ”)” is encountered.

3. If an operand is encountered, put it on STACK.

4. If an operator ⊗ is encountered, then:

(a) Remove the two top elements of STACK, where A is the top element and B is the next-to-top element.
(b) Evaluate B ⊗ A.
(c) Place the result of (b) back on STACK.
[End of If structure.]
[End of Step 2 loop.]

5. Set VALUE equal to the top element on STACK.

6. Exit.
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Arithmetic Expressions; Polish Notation

Algorithm 2-Example

Arithmetic expression P written in postfix notation: P: 5, 6, 2, +, *,

12, 4, /, –
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Arithmetic Expressions; Polish Notation

Infix to Prefix I
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Arithmetic Expressions; Polish Notation

Infix to Prefix II
Algorithm of Infix to Prefix
1. Push “)” onto STACK, and add “(“ to end of the A

2. Scan A from right to left and repeat step 3 to 6 for each element of A until the STACK is empty

3. If an operand is encountered add it to B

4. If a right parenthesis is encountered push it onto STACK

5. If an operator is encountered then:

a. Repeatedly pop from STACK and add to B each operator (on the top of STACK) which has same or
higher precedence than the operator.

b. Add operator to STACK

6. If left parenthesis is encontered then

a. Repeatedly pop from the STACK and add to B (each operator on top of stack until a left parenthesis
is encounterd)

b. Remove the left parenthesis

7. Exit
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Arithmetic Expressions; Polish Notation

Example Infix to Prefix I

Expression: ( A + B ∧ C ) * D + E ∧ 5
1. Reverse the infix expression: 5 ∧ E + D * ) C ∧ B + A (

2. Make every ’(’ as ’)’ and every ’)’ as ’(’: 5 ∧ E + D * ( C ∧ B + A )

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Arithmetic Expressions; Polish Notation

Example Infix to Prefix II

3. Convert expression to postfix form:
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Arithmetic Expressions; Polish Notation

Example Infix to Prefix III

4. Reverse the expression: + * + A ∧ B C D ∧ E 5

Result: + * + A ∧ B C D ∧ E 5
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Arithmetic Expressions; Polish Notation

Evaluation of Prefix Expressions I

Algorithm for evaluating a prefix expression

1. Put a pointer P at the end of the end.

2. If character at P is an operand push it to Stack.

3. If the character at P is an operator pop two elements from the Stack. Operate on these elements according
to the operator, and push the result back to the Stack.

4. Decrement P by 1 and go to Step 2 as long as there are characters left to be scanned in the expression.

5. The Result is stored at the top of the Stack, return it.

6. End.
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Arithmetic Expressions; Polish Notation

Example- Evaluation of Prefix Expressions I

Expression: + 9 * 2 6
Character Scanned Stack (Front to Back) Explanation
6 6 6 is an operand, push to Stack
2 62 2 is an operand, push to Stack
* 12 (6 * 2) * is an operator, pop 6 and 2,
multiply them and push result to
Stack
9 12 9 9 is an operand, push to Stack
+ 21 (12+9) + is an operator, pop 12 and
9 add them and push result to
Stack

Result: 21