Scribd
Upload
15 views1 page

Algo2 1

1) Postfix notation evaluates expressions without parentheses by using a stack to store operands. 2) An algorithm scans the postfix expression, pushing numbers to the stack and evaluating operators by popping operands, applying the operator, and pushing the result. 3) As an example, the expression "2 3 1 * + 9 -" is evaluated by pushing numbers to the stack and applying operators, with the final result of -4 left on the stack.

Uploaded by

dekdsf daen
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
15 views1 page

Algo2 1

1) Postfix notation evaluates expressions without parentheses by using a stack to store operands. 2) An algorithm scans the postfix expression, pushing numbers to the stack and evaluating operators by popping operands, applying the operator, and pushing the result. 3) As an example, the expression "2 3 1 * + 9 -" is evaluated by pushing numbers to the stack and applying operators, with the final result of -4 left on the stack.

Uploaded by

dekdsf daen
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 1

Evaluate Postfix (using Stacks)

The Postfix notation is used to represent algebraic expressions. The expressions written in postfix form
are evaluated faster compared to infix notation as parenthesis are not required in postfix. Here we
outline the basics of evaluation of postfix expressions.

Following is rough sketch of an algorithm to evaluate postfix expressions.


1) Create a stack to store operands (or values).
2) Scan the given expression and do following for every scanned element.

2a) If the element is a number, push it into the stack


2b) If the element is an operator, pop operands for the operator from stack. Evaluate the
operator and push the result back to the stack

3) When the expression has ended, the number in the stack is the final answer

Example:
Let the given expression be “2 3 1 * + 9 -“. We scan all elements one by one.
1) Scan ‘2’, it’s a number, so push it to stack. Stack contains ‘2’
2) Scan ‘3’, again a number, push it to stack, stack now contains ‘2 3’ (from bottom to top)
3) Scan ‘1’, again a number, push it to stack, stack now contains ‘2 3 1’
4) Scan ‘*’, it’s an operator, pop two operands from stack, apply the * operator on operands, we get 3*1
which results in 3. We push the result ‘3’ to stack. Stack now becomes ‘2 3’.
5) Scan ‘+’, it’s an operator, pop two operands from stack, apply the + operator on operands, we get 3 +
2 which results in 5. We push the result ‘5’ to stack. Stack now becomes ‘5’.
6) Scan ‘9’, it’s a number, we push it to the stack. Stack now becomes ‘5 9’.
7) Scan ‘-‘, it’s an operator, pop two operands from stack, apply the – operator on operands, we get 5 –
9 which results in -4. We push the result ‘-4’ to stack. Stack now becomes ‘-4’.
8) There are no more elements to scan, we return the top element from stack (which is the only element
left in stack).

You might also like