Module 3
Stacks
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Introduction
• Stack is an important data structure which stores its elements in
an ordered manner.
• Take an analogy of a pile of plates where one plate is placed on
top of the other. A plate can be removed only from the topmost
position. Hence, you can add and remove the plate only at/from
one position, that is, the topmost position.
Another plate will
The topmost plate will
be added on top of
be removed first
this plate
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Stacks
• A stack is a linear data structure which uses the same principle,
i.e., the elements in a stack are added and removed only from
one end, which is called the top.
• Hence, a stack is called a LIFO (Last-In, First-Out) data structure as
the element that is inserted last is the first one to be taken out.
• Stacks can be implemented either using an array or a linked list.
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Array Representation of Stacks
• In computer’s memory stacks can be represented as a linear array.
• Every stack has a variable TOP associated with it.
• TOP is used to store the address of the topmost element of the
stack. It is this position from where the element will be added or
deleted.
• There is another variable MAX which will be used to store the
maximum number of elements that the stack can hold.
• If TOP = NULL, then it indicates that the stack is empty and if TOP =
MAX -1, then the stack is full.
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Push Operation
• The push operation is used to insert an element in to the stack.
• The new element is added at the topmost position of the stack.
• However, before inserting the value, we must first check if
TOP=MAX-1, because if this is the case then it means the stack is
full and no more insertions can further be done.
• If an attempt is made to insert a value in a stack that is already full,
an OVERFLOW message is printed.
A B C D E
0 1 2 3 TOP = 4 5 6 7 8 9
A B C D E F
0 1 2 3 4 TOP =5 6 7 8 9
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Pop Operation
• The pop operation is used to delete the topmost element from the stack.
• However, before deleting the value, we must first check if TOP=NULL,
because if this is the case then it means the stack is empty so no more
deletions can further be done.
• If an attempt is made to delete a value from a stack that is already empty,
an UNDERFLOW message is printed.
A B C D E
0 1 2 3 TOP = 4 5 6 7
8 9
A B C D
0 1 2 TOP = 3 4 5
6 7 8 9
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Peek Operation
• Peek is an operation that returns the value of the topmost element
of the stack without deleting it from the stack.
• However, the peep operation first checks if the stack is empty or
contains some elements.
• If TOP = NULL, then an appropriate message is printed else the
value is returned.
A B C D E
0 1 2 3 TOP = 4 5 6
7 8 9
Here Peep operation will return E, as it is the value of the
topmost element of the stack.
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Algorithms for Push and Pop Operations
Algorithm to PUSH an element in a stack
Step 1: IF TOP = MAX-1, then
PRINT “OVERFLOW”
Goto Step 4
[END OF IF]
Step 2: SET TOP = TOP + 1
Step 3: SET STACK[TOP] = VALUE
Step 4: END
Algorithm to POP an element from a stack
Step 1: IF TOP = NULL, then
PRINT “UNDERFLOW”
Goto Step 4
[END OF IF]
Step 2: SET VAL = STACK[TOP]
Step 3: SET TOP = TOP - 1
Step 4: END
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Algorithm for Peep Operation
Algorithm for Peep Operation
Step 1: IF TOP =NULL, then
PRINT “STACK IS EMPTY”
Go TO Step 3
[END OF IF]
Step 2: RETURN STACK[TOP]
Step 3: END
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Linear Representation of Stacks
• In a linked stack, every node has two parts – one that stores data
and another that stores the address of the next node.
• The START pointer of the linked list is used as TOP.
• If TOP is NULL then it indicates that the stack is empty.
1 7 3 4 2 6 5 X
TOP
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Push Operation on a Linked Stack
Algorithm to PUSH an element in a linked stack
Step 1: Allocate memory for the new node and name it as New_Node
Step 2: SET New_Node->DATA = VAL
Step 3: IF TOP = NULL, then
SET New_Node->NEXT = NULL
SET TOP = New_Node
ELSE
SET New_node->NEXT = TOP
SET TOP = New_Node
[END OF IF]
Step 4: END
1 7 3 4 2 6 5 X
TOP
9 1 7 3 4 2 6 5 X
TOP
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Pop Operation on a Linked Stack
Algorithm to POP an element from a stack
Step 1: IF TOP = NULL, then
PRINT “UNDERFLOW”
Goto Step 5
[END OF IF]
Step 2: SET PTR = TOP
Step 3: SET TOP = TOP ->NEXT
Step 4: FREE PTR
Step 5: END
9 1 7 3 4 2 6 5 X
TOP
1 7 3 4 2 6 5 X
TOP
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Module 3
Queues
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Introduction
• Queue is an important data structure which stores its elements in an ordered manner.
• We can explain the concept of queues using the following analogy:
People moving on an escalator. The people who got on the escalator first will be the first one to step out of it.
• A queue is a FIFO (First-In, First-Out) data structure in which the element that is inserted first is the first one to be
taken out.
• The elements in a queue are added at one end called the rear and removed from the other one end called the front.
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Array Representation of Queues
• Queues can be easily represented using linear arrays.
• Every queue has front and rear variables that point to the position
from where deletions and insertions can be done, respectively.
• Consider the queue shown in figure
12 9 7 18 14 36
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
• Here, front = 0 and rear = 5.
• If we want to add one more value in the list say with value 45, then
rear would be incremented by 1 and the value would be stored at
the position pointed by rear.
12 9 7 18 14 36 45
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
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Array Representation of Queues
• Now, front = 0 and rear = 6. Every time a new element has to be added, we will repeat the same procedure.
• Now, if we want to delete an element from the queue, then the value of front will be incremented. Deletions are
done from only this end of the queue.
9 7 18 14 36 45
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
• Now, front = 1 and rear = 6.
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Array Representation of Queues
• Before inserting an element in the queue we must check for
overflow conditions.
• An overflow occurs when we try to insert an element into a queue
that is already full, i.e. when rear = MAX – 1, where MAX specifies
the maximum number of elements that the queue can hold.
• Similarly, before deleting an element from the queue, we must
check for underflow condition.
• An underflow occurs when we try to delete an element from a
queue that is already empty. If front = -1 and rear = -1, this means
there is no element in the queue.
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Algorithm for Insertion Operation
Algorithm to insert an element in a queue
Step 1: IF REAR=MAX-1, then;
Write OVERFLOW
Goto Step 4
[END OF IF]
Step 2: IF FRONT == -1 and REAR = -1, then
SET FRONT = REAR = 0
ELSE
SET REAR = REAR + 1
[END OF IF]
Step 3: SET QUEUE[REAR] = NUM
Step 4: Exit
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Algorithm for Deletion Operation
Algorithm to delete an element from a queue
Step 1: IF FRONT = -1 OR FRONT > REAR, then
Write UNDERFLOW
Goto Step 2
ELSE
SET VAL = QUEUE[FRONT]
SET FRONT = FRONT + 1
[END OF IF]
Step 2: Exit
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Linked Representation of Queues
• In a linked queue, every element has two parts: one that stores data and the other that stores the
address of the next element.
• The START pointer of the linked list is used as FRONT.
• We will also use another pointer called REAR which will store the address of the last element in the
queue.
• All insertions will be done at the rear end and all the deletions will be done at the front end.
• If FRONT = REAR = NULL, then it indicates that the queue is empty.
1 7 3 4 2 6 5 X
FRONT REAR
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Inserting an Element in a Linked Queue
Algorithm to insert an element in a linked queue
Step 1: Allocate memory for the new node and name it as PTR
Step 2: SET PTR->DATA = VAL
Step 3: IF FRONT = NULL, then
SET FRONT = REAR = PTR
SET FRONT->NEXT = REAR->NEXT = NULL
ELSE
SET REAR->NEXT = PTR
SET REAR = PTR
SET REAR->NEXT = NULL
[END OF IF]
Step 4: END
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Deleting an Element from a Linked Queue
Algorithm to delete an element from a linked queue
Step 1: IF FRONT = NULL, then
Write “Underflow”
Go to Step 5
[END OF IF]
Step 2: SET PTR = FRONT
Step 3: FRONT = FRONT->NEXT
Step 4: FREE PTR
Step 5: END
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Applications of Stacks
• Recursion
• Tower of Hanoi
• Reversing a list
• Conversion of an infix expression into a postfix expression
• Evaluation of a postfix expression
• Conversion of an infix expression into a prefix expression
• Evaluation of a postfix expression
• Parentheses checker
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Expression – Notations!
• Infix, Postfix and Prefix notations are three different but equivalent notations of
writing algebraic expressions.
• While writing an arithmetic expression using infix notation, the operator is placed
between the operands. For example, A+B; here, plus operator is placed between the
two operands A and B.
• Although it is easy to write expressions using infix notation, computers find it difficult
to parse as they need a lot of information to evaluate the expression.
• Information is needed about operator precedence, associativity rules, and brackets
which overrides these rules.
• So, computers work more efficiently with expressions written using prefix and postfix
notations.
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Prefix, Infix and Postfix Expression
Operator precedence and associativity
1. Parenthesis (), {}, []
2. Exponentiation ( right to left)
3. Multiplication and Division (left to right)
4. Addition and Subtraction (left to right)
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Postfix Notation
• Postfix notation was given by Jan Łukasiewicz who was a Polish
logician, mathematician, and philosopher. His aim was to develop
a parenthesis-free prefix notation (also known as Polish notation)
and a postfix notation which is better known as Reverse Polish
Notation or RPN.
• In postfix notation, the operator is placed after the operands. For
example, if an expression is written as A+B in infix notation, the
same expression can be written as AB+ in postfix notation.
• The order of evaluation of a postfix expression is always from left
to right.
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Postfix Notation
• The expression (A + B) * C is written as:
AB+C* in the postfix notation.
• A postfix operation does not even follow the rules of operator precedence. The operator which
occurs first in the expression is operated first on the operands.
• For example, given a postfix notation AB+C*. While evaluation, addition will be performed prior
to multiplication.
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Prefix Notation
• In a prefix notation, the operator is placed before the operands.
• For example, if A+B is an expression in infix notation, then the
corresponding expression in prefix notation is given by +AB.
• While evaluating a prefix expression, the operators are applied to the
operands that are present immediately on the right of the operator.
• Prefix expressions also do not follow the rules of operator precedence,
associativity, and even brackets cannot alter the order of evaluation.
• The expression (A + B) * C is written as:
*+ABC in the prefix notation
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Postfix expression
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How to convert Infix to postfix.
STEP 1: Convert the infix expression into its equivalent postfix expression
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How to convert Infix to postfix.
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Evaluation of an Infix Expression
STEP 1: Convert the infix expression into its equivalent postfix expression
Algorithm to convert an Infix notation into postfix notation
Step 1: Add ‘)” to the end of the infix expression
Step 2: Push “(“ on to the stack
Step 3: Repeat until each character in the infix notation is scanned
IF a “(“ is encountered, push it on the stack
IF an operand (whether a digit or an alphabet) is
encountered,
add it to the postfix expression.
IF a “)” is encountered, then;
a. Repeatedly pop from stack and add it to the postfix expression
until a “(” is encountered.
b. Discard the “(“. That is, remove the “(“ from stack and do not
add it to the postfix expression
IF an operator X is encountered, then;
a Repeatedly pop from stack and add each operator (popped from
the stack) to the postfix expression which has the same
precedence or a higher precedence than X
b. Push the operator X to the stack
Step 4: Repeatedly pop from the stack and add it to the postfix expression
until the stack is empty
Step 5: EXIT
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Evaluation of an Infix Expression
STEP 2: Evaluate the postfix expression
Algorithm to evaluate a postfix expression
Step 1: Add a “)” at the end of the postfix expression
Step 2: Scan every character of the postfix expression and repeat
steps 3 and 4 until “)”is encountered
Step 3: IF an operand is encountered, push it on the stack
IF an operator X is encountered, then
a. pop the top two elements from the stack as A and B
b. Evaluate B X A, where A was the topmost element and B was
the element below A.
c. Push the result of evaluation on the stack
[END OF IF]
Step 4: SET RESULT equal to the topmost element of the stack
Step 5: EXIT
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Evaluation of an Infix Expression
• Let us now take an example that makes use of this algorithm.
• Consider the infix expression given as “9 - (( 3 * 4) + 8) / 4”.
• The infix expression "9 - (( 3 * 4) + 8) / 4" can be written as “9 3 4 * 8
+ 4 / -“ using postfix notation.
• Look at table which shows the procedure.
Character scanned Stack
9 9
3 9, 3
4 9, 3, 4
* 9, 12
8 9, 12, 8
+ 9, 20
4 9, 20, 4
/ 9, 5
- 4
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Convert Infix Expression into Prefix Expression
Consider an infix expression: (A – B / C) * (A / K – L)
• Step 1: Reverse the infix string. Note that while reversing the string
you must interchange left and right parenthesis.
(L – K / A) * (C / B – A)
• Step 2: Obtain the corresponding postfix expression of the infix
expression obtained as a result of Step 1.
• The expression is: (L – K / A) * (C / B – A)
• Therefore, [L – (K A /)] * [ (C B /) - A ]
= [LKA/-] * [ CB/A-]
=LKA/-CB/A-*
• Step 3: Reverse the postfix expression to get the prefix expression
• Therefore, the prefix expression is * - A / B C - / A K L
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Recursion
• Recursion is an implicit application of STACK ADT.
• A recursive function is a function that calls itself to solve a smaller version
of its task until a final call is made which does not require a call to itself.
• Every recursive solution has two major cases: the base case in which the
problem is simple enough to be solved directly without making any further
calls to the same function.
• Recursive case, in which first the problem at hand is divided into simpler
subparts. Second the function calls itself but with subparts of the problem
obtained in the first step. Third, the result is obtained by combining the
solutions of simpler sub-parts.
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Types of Recursion
• Any recursive function can be characterized based on:
whether the function calls itself directly or indirectly (direct or indirect
recursion).
whether any operation is pending at each recursive call (tail-recursive or not).
the structure of the calling pattern (linear or tree-recursive).
Recursion
Direct Indirect Linear Tree Tail
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Direct Recursion
• A function is said to be directly recursive if it explicitly calls itself.
• For example, consider the function given below.
int Func( int n)
{
if(n==0)
retrun n;
return (Func(n-1));
}
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Indirect Recursion
• A function is said to be indirectly recursive if it contains a call to
another function which ultimately calls it.
• Look at the functions given below. These two functions are
indirectly recursive as they both call each other.
int Func1(int n) int Func2(int x)
{ {
if(n==0) return Func1(x-1);
return n; }
return Func2(n);
}
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Linear Recursion
• Recursive functions can also be characterized depending on the way in
which the recursion grows: in a linear fashion or forming a tree structure.
• In simple words, a recursive function is said to be linearly recursive when no
pending operation involves another recursive call to the function.
• For example, the factorial function is linearly recursive as the pending
operation involves only multiplication to be performed and does not involve
another call to fact() function.
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Tree Recursion
• A recursive function is said to be tree recursive (or non-linearly recursive) if
the pending operation makes another recursive call to the function.
• For example, the Fibonacci function Fib in which the pending operations
recursively calls the Fib function.
int Fibonacci(int num)
{
if(num <= 2)
return 1;
return ( Fibonacci (num - 1) + Fibonacci(num – 2));
}
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Tail Recursion
• A recursive function is said to be tail recursive if no operations are
pending to be performed when the recursive function returns to
its caller.
• That is, when the called function returns, the returned value is
immediately returned from the calling function.
• Tail recursive functions are highly desirable because they are much
more efficient to use as in their case, the amount of information
that has to be stored on the system stack is independent of the
number of recursive calls.
int Fact(n) int Fact1(int n, int res)
{ {
return Fact1(n, 1); if (n==1)
} return res;
return Fact1(n-1, n*res);
}
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Fibonacci Series
• The Fibonacci series can be given as:
0 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55……
• That is, the third term of the series is the sum of the first and second terms.
Similarly, fourth term is the sum of second and third terms, so on and so forth.
• A recursive solution to find the nth term of the Fibonacci series can be given as:
FIB(n) = 1, if n<=2
FIB (n - 1) + FIB (n - 2), FIB(7)
otherwise
FIB(6) FIB(5)
FIB(5) FIB(4) FIB(4) FIB(3)
FIB(4) FIB(3) FIB(3) FIB(2) FIB(3) FIB(2) FIB(2) FIB(1)
FIB(3) FIB(2) FIB(2) FIB(1) FIB(2) FIB(1) FIB(2) FIB(1)
FIB(2) FIB(1)
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Pros and Cons of Recursion
Pros
• Recursive solutions often tend to be shorter and simpler than non-
recursive ones.
• Code is clearer and easier to use.
• Follows a divide and conquer technique to solve problems.
• In some (limited) instances, recursion may be more efficient.
Cons
• For some programmers and readers, recursion is a difficult concept.
• Recursion is implemented using system stack. If the stack space on the
system is limited, recursion to a deeper level will be difficult to implement.
• Aborting a recursive process in midstream is slow.
• Using a recursive function takes more memory and time to execute as
compared to its non-recursive counterpart.
• It is difficult to find bugs, particularly when using global variables.
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Tower of Hanoi
Tower of Hanoi is one of the main applications of a recursion. It says, "if you can solve
n-1 cases, then you can easily solve the nth case"
A B C A B C
If there is only one ring, then simply move the ring from source to the destination
A B C
A B C A B C
If there are two rings, then first move ring 1 to the
spare pole and then move ring 2 from source to the
destination. Finally move ring 1 from the source to the
A B C
destination
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Tower of Hanoi
Consider the working with three rings.
A B C
A B C
A B C
A B C A B C
A B C
A B C A B C
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