Unit # 3 - Stacks

Furqan Ahmed Ghauri

 Stacks
• Objective
After this lecture you will be able to:
• Describe a stack
• Describe the representation of stack using linear
array
• Describe the representation of stack using linear
linked list
• Implementation of various operations on stack
• Describe some applications of stacks
 Stack
• Stack is one of the commonly used data
structures.
• Stack is also called last in first out (LIFO)
system
• Stack is a linear list in which insertion and
deletion can take place only at one end
called top.
• This structure operates in much the same
way as stack of trays.
Stack of Trays
•The following figure illustrate a stack, which can
accommodate maximum of 10 elements

figure shows stack after pushing elements 8,10,12,-5,6

9
8
7
6
5
top 4 6
3 -5
2 12
1 10
0 8
 Stack after popping top two
elements

9
8
7
6
5
4
3
top 2 12
1 10
0 8
 stack after pushing elements 8,10,12,-5,6,9,55

9
8
7
top 6 55
5 9
4 6
3 -5
2 12
1 10
0 8
 Operations on stacks
• Createstack(s)—to create s as an empty stack
• Push(s,i)--to push elementi onto stack s.
• Pop(s)—to access and remove the top element
of the stack s
• Peek(s)—to access the top element of the
stacks without removing it from the stack s.
• Isfull(s)—to check whether the stack s is full
• isempty—to check whether the stack s is
empty
 Representation of stack in
memory
• Representation of stack using array:
Suppose elements of the stack are integer type and stack can
store maximum 10 elements..
#define MAX 10
typedef struct
{
int top;
int elements[MAX];
}stack;
stack s;
• Here we have defined our own data type named stack.
• First element top will be used to index top element
• Array elements hold the elements of the stack
• Last line declares variable s of type stack
 stack
• In addition to the previous declaration, we
will use the declaration
typedef enum {false, true }
Boolean;

This statement defined new data type

named Boolean which can take value false
or true.
Representation of stack in memory
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
4 8 10 12 -5 6
top

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

2 8 10 12
top

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

6 8 10 12 -5 6 9 55
top
 Creating an empty stack
• Before we can use a stack, it is to be initialized.
• As the index of array elements can take any value in the
range 0 to MAX-1, the purpose of initializing the stack is
served by assigning value -1 to the top of variable.
• This simple task can be accomplished by the following
function.

Void createstack( stack *ps)

{
ps=-1;
}
 Testing stack for underflow
Boolean isempty(stack *ps)
{
if(ps->top==-1)
return true;
else
return false;
}
or
Boolean is empty(stack *ps)
{
return ((ps->top==-1)?true:false);
}
 Testing stack for overflow
Boolean isfull(stack *ps)
{
if(ps->top==MAX-1)
return true;
else
return false;
}
or
Boolean is empty(stack *ps)
{
return ((ps->top==MAX-1)?true:false);
}
 Push Operation
Before the push operation, if the stack is empty, then the
value of the top will be -1and if the stack is not empty
then the value of the top will be the index of the element
currently on the top.
Therefore we place the value onto the stack, the value of
top is incremented so that it points to the new top of
stack, where incoming element is placed.

Void push(stack *ps, int value)

{
ps->top++;
ps->elements[ps->top]=value;
}
 Pop Operation
The element on the top of the stack is assigned to a local variable,
which later on will be returned via the return statement.
After assigning the top element to a local variable, the variable top is
decremented so that it points to a new top

Int pop(stack *ps)

{
int temp;
temp=ps->elements[ps->top];
ps->top--;
return temp;
}
 Accessing top element
There may be instances where we want to
access the top element of the stack
without removing it from the stack.

Int peek( stack *ps)

{
return(ps->elements[ps->top]);
}
Representing a stack using a linked
list
A stack represented using a linked list is also known as
linked stack.
The array based representation of stack suffers from
following limitations.
• Size of the stack must be known in advance
• We may come across situation when an attempt to push
an element causes overflow.
However stack is an abstract data structure can not be full.
Hence, abstractly, it is always possible to push an
element onto stack. Therefore stack as an array prohibits
the growth of the stack beyond the finite number of
elements.
 Declaration of stack
The linked list representation allows a stack to grow to a
limit of the computer’s memory.
Typedef struct nodetype
{
int info;
struct nodetype *next;
}stack;
Stack *top;
Here I have defined my own data type named stack,
which is a self referential structure and whose first
element info hold the element of the stack and the
second element next hold the address of the element
under it in the stack.
The last line declares a pointer variable top of type
stack.
 Representation of stack in memory
top

6 -5 12 10 8 X

top

6 -5 12 X

top

55 9 6 -5 12 10 8 X
 Creating an empty stack
Before we can use a stack, it is to be initialized.
To initialize a stack, we will create an empty
linked list.
The empty linked list is created by setting pointer
variable top to value NULL.
Void createstack(stack **top)
{
*top=NULL;
}
 Testing stack for underflow
Boolean isempty(stack *top)
{
if(top==NULL)
return true;
else
return false;
}
or
Boolean is empty(stack *top)
{
return ((top==NULL)?true:false);
}
 Testing stack for overflow
Since stack represented using a linked list
can grow to a limit of computers memory,
there overflow condition never occurs.
Hence this operation is not implemented
for linked list.
 Push operation
To push a new element onto the stack, the element is inserted in
the beginning of the linked list.
void push(stack **top, int value)
{
stack *ptr;
ptr=(stack*)malloc(sizeof(stack));
if(ptr==NULL)
{
printf(“\n unable to allocate memory for new node…”);
printf(“\npress any key to exit..”);
getch();
return;
}
ptr->info=value;
ptr->next=*top;
*top=ptr;
}
 Pop operation
To pop an element from the stack, the element is removed
from the beginning of the linked list.
Int pop(stack **top)
{
int temp;
stack *ptr;
temp=(*top)->info;
ptr=*top;
*top=(*top)->next;
free(ptr);
return temp;
}
 Accessing top element
Int peek(stack *top)
{
return(top->info)
}
 Dispose a stack
Because the stack is implemented using linked lists,
therefore it is programmers job to write the code to
release the memory occupied by the stack.
Void disposestack(stack **top)
{
stack *ptr;
while(*top!=NULL)
{
ptr=*top;
*top=(*top)->next;
free(ptr);
}
}
 Applications of Stacks
• Stacks are used to pass parameters between
functions. On a call to function, parameter and local
variables are stored on stack.
• High level programming languages, such as Pascal
c etc. that provide support for recursion use stack
for book keeping. In each recursive call, there is
need to save the current values of parameters, local
variables and the return address.
In addition to above stack are used to solve the various
problems….
1. Parenthesis checker
2. Mathematical notation translation
1. Polish (prefix) notation
2. Reverse polish (postfix) Notation
3. Quick sort algorithm
 Parenthesis checker

• Parenthesis checker is a program that checks

whether a mathematical expression is properly
parenthesized.
• We will consider three sets of grouping symbols:
– The standard parenthesis ”( )”
– The braces “{ }”
– the brackets “[ ]”
For an input expression, it verifies that for each left
parenthesis, braces or racket, there is a corresponding
closing symbol and the symbols are appropriately nested.
 Examples of valid inputs
Valid Input invalid Input

() [(( )

( { } [ ]) ( { } [ ]))

({[][]}) (( { [ ] [ ] } )

[ { { { } ( )} [ ] } [ ] ( ) { } ] ([ { { { } ( )} [ ] } }[ ] ( ) { } ]

Inside parenthesis there can be any valid arithmetic expression.

 Mathematical notation
Translation
Symbol used Operation Precedence
performed
* (asterisk) Multiplication Highest

/ (slash) Division Highest

% (percentage) Modulus Highest

+ (plus) Addition Lowest

- (hyphen) subtraction lowest

 Infix notation
In this notation, the operator symbol is placed
between its two operands.
• To add A to B we can write as A+B or B+A
• To subtract D from C we write as C-D, but we
can not write D-C as this operation is not
commutative.

In this notation we must distinguish between

(A+B)/C and A+(B/C)
 Polish (prefix) notation
In this notation, named after the polish
mathematician Jan Lukasiewiez, the operator
symbol is placed before its two operands.
• To add A to B we write as +AB or +BA
• To subtract D from C we have to writ as –CD
not as -DC
 Infix to polish notation
In order to translate an arithmetic expression in infix notation to
polish notation, we do step by step using rackets ([]) to indicate
the partial translations.
• Consider the following expression in infix notation:
(A-B/C)*(A*K-L)
The partial translation may look like:
(A-[/BC])*([*AK]-L)
[-A/BC]*[-*AKL]
*-A/BC-*AKL
The fundamental property of polish notation is that the order in
which the operations to perform is completely determined by
the position of the operators and operands in the expression.
Accordingly one never needs parenthesis when writing expression
in polish notation.
 Reverse Polish (Postfix) Notation
In this notation the operator symbol is placed
after its two operands.
• To add A to B we can write as AB+ or BA+
• To subtract D from C we have to write as CD-
not as DC-.
 Infix to reverse polish notation
Consider the following expression in infix
notation:
(A-B/C)*(A/K-L)
The partial translation may look like:]
(A-[BC/])*([AK/]-L)
[ABC/-]*[AK/L-]
ABC/-AK/L-*
 Evaluating Mathematical
Expressions
Generally we use infix notation, where one can not tell the
order in which the operator should be applied by looking
at the expression.
The expression in postfix notation is very easy to evaluate,
as the operands appear before the operator, there is no
need of operator precedence or parentheses for
operation.
In order to evaluate a postfix expression it is scanned from
left to right.
As operands are encountered, they are pushed on a stack.
When an operator encountered, pop top one or two
operands depending on the operator, perform the
operation and place the result back on the stack.
 Infix to postfix procedure
Consider the following infix expression q:
(7-5)*(9/2)
Character scanned stack Expression p
( (
7 ( 7
- (- 7
5 (- 75
) empty 75-
* * 75-
( *( 75-
9 *( 75–9
/ *(/ 75–9
2 *(/ 75–92
) * 75–92/
End of expression Empty 75–92/*
 Evaluating expression in postfix
notation
Consider the following postfix expression p:
75–92/*

Character Scanned Stack

7 7
5 75
- 2
9 29
2 292
/ 2 4.5
* 9
End of expression 9