Lab 5, CSC 202
1 Stack
2 Postfix Calculator
2.1 To Do
3 Queue
3.1 Circular Buffer
4 Lab Credit
6.9.0.6

Lab 5, CSC 202

For this lab you will explore the implementation and use of two additional sequential data structures: the Stack and the Queue.

Invitation Link

1 Stack

You must provide two implementations of the Stack data structure. One implementation will be based on your Linked List implementation and the other will be based on your Array List implementation (from prior labs). Each Stack implementation must define each of the following functions.

As before, follow the design recipe (data definitions if necessary, signature, purpose statement, header, test cases, fill in body) to design each of these functions.

Write your linked list implementation in a file named linked_stack.py with tests in linked_stack_tests.py and your array list implementation in a file named array_stack.py with tests in array_stack_tests.py .

2 Postfix Calculator

In this part of the lab you will use a Stack to implement a postfix expression calculator.

A postfix expression is one where the operands for a binary expression come before the operator. For instance, the expression

1 2 + 4 * evaluates by adding 1 and 2 (to get 3) and then multiplying the result by 4 (to get 12). Evaluation of such an expression can be implemented via a Stack. While processing the expression, each number is pushed onto the stack. When an operator (assuming for this exercise that each operator requires two operands, i.e., it is binary) is to be evaluated, the operands are popped from the stack, the calculation is performed, and the result is pushed back onto the stack. For example, the evaluation of 1 2 + 4 * would take place as follows.

 

Step                    Stack after Step

-------------           ------------------

                        top -> empty

1 => push 1             top -> 1

2 => push 2             top -> 2 1

+ =>

   pop                  top -> 1

   pop                  top -> empty

   push 1 + 2           top -> 3

4 => push 4             top -> 4 3

* =>

   pop                  top -> 3

   pop                  top -> empty

   push 3 + 4           top -> 12

 

2.1 To Do

In a file named postfix.py (with test cases in postfix_tests.py ) implement the following function.

Write a function, postfix_calc , that takes a string representing an expression in postfix form. Your function may assume that the string is properly formatted (i.e., if there is an error while processing the input, so be it). Split the string and process each element as demonstrated in the steps above to implement a postfix calculator. Your calculator must support the +, -, *, / operators (assume floating point values). Once the calculation is complete, return the value at the top of the stack.

As before, follow the design recipe (data definitions if necessary, signature, purpose statement, header, test cases, fill in body) to design this function.

3 Queue

You must provide two implementations of the Queue data structure. One of the implementations must be implemented as a circular buffer, as discussed below. The other should use a pair of linked lists, one representing the front of the queue, and the other the reversed tail of the queue, as discussed in class.

Your queue implementations should be able to handle 5,000 elements. This will require raising the recursion limit, unless you use a loop to implement your reverse function.

Each Queue implementation must define each of the following functions.

As before, follow the design recipe (data definitions if necessary, signature, purpose statement, header, test cases, fill in body) to design each of these functions.

Write your circular buffer implementation in a file named circular_queue.py with tests in circular_queue_tests.py . Write your other implementation in a file called list_queue.py , with tests in list_queue_tests.py .

3.1 Circular Buffer

Consider a queue implemented using an array list. If the enqueue operation were to add elements to the end of the list, then the dequeue operation would necessarily remove from the beginning of the list. This implies that, using a typical array list implementation, each dequeue would result in shifting (i.e., copying) all of the contents of the underlying array one position to toward the front. Since dequeueing is a common operation, such an implementation would incur a significant performance penalty.

Instead, for this lab, you will define a Queue implementation based on a circular buffer. This array will be of a fixed size (you should set the size to 5000 when the Queue is created). The fixed size simplifies the implementation of the circular buffer. Because the size of the array is fixed, you do not need to use your own array list implementation; you should simply use a Python list of a fixed size, and Python’s get and set operators.

The circular buffer allows for tracking the head of the queue as an index into the array. Values are not shifted as the result of a dequeue operation; instead, the index for the head of the queue is simply updated. Similarly, the number of elements currently in the queue is tracked and updated as values are enqueued. Left as such, this would waste the space at the beginning of the array after each dequeue operation. Instead, the queue itself will "wrap around" to the beginning of the array so that an attempt to enqueue an element that would normally put that element beyond the bounds of the array will instead put that element at the beginning of the array.

You are required to implement a Queue using a circular buffer. Since the buffer will be of fixed size (to simplify the implementation for the lab), any attempt to enqueue a value in a full Queue should fail with an exception (you should raise an IndexError as done in previous cases).

4 Lab Credit

You must submit your files for grading to receive credit for this lab. This requires that you use the specified file names (listed below) and the specified function names for the required operations (review the lab description to verify that these match).

Recall that the file names are as follows.