Evaluate Reverse Polish Notation

To solve this coding challenge, we need to evaluate an arithmetic expression given in Reverse Polish Notation (RPN). RPN is a mathematical notation wherein every operator follows all of its operands, making the order of operations clear and unambiguous without needing parentheses.

Explanation

The methodology involves using a stack to keep track of operands until an operator is encountered. When an operator is encountered, the necessary number of operands are popped from the stack, the operation is performed, and the result is pushed back onto the stack. At the end of the evaluation, the stack will contain the final output of the expression. Here is a step-by-step explanation along with pseudocode for evaluating the RPN expression:
  1. Initialize a Stack : We start by creating an empty stack. This will be used to store the operands.
  2. Iterate through Tokens : We iterate through each element in the input list
    tokens
    . If the element is an operator, we pop the necessary number of operands from the stack, apply the operator, and push the result back onto the stack. If the element is an operand, we push it onto the stack.
  3. Pop Operands for Operators : For each operator, pop the top two elements from the stack, perform the arithmetic operation, and push the result back onto the stack. Ensure to handle integer division correctly by truncating towards zero.
  4. Final Result : After the entire input list has been processed, the stack should contain only one element, which is the final result of the evaluated expression.
  5. Detailed Steps in Pseudocode

    Here's the pseudocode with comments to illustrate the logic:
                                                
    # Pseudocode for evaluating Reverse Polish Notation
    
    # Function to evaluate RPN
    function evaluateRPN(tokens):
    # Initialize an empty stack to store operands
    stack = []
    
    # Iterate over each token in the input list
    for token in tokens:
    # Check if the token is an operator
    if token in ["+", "-", "*", "/"]:
    # Pop the top two operands from the stack
    operand2 = stack.pop()
    operand1 = stack.pop()
    
    # Perform the corresponding operation and push the result back into the stack
    if token == "+":
    result = operand1 + operand2
    stack.append(result)
    elif token == "-":
    result = operand1 - operand2
    stack.append(result)
    elif token == "*":
    result = operand1 * operand2
    stack.append(result)
    elif token == "/":
    # Perform integer division and truncate towards zero
    result = int(operand1 / operand2)
    stack.append(result)
    else:
    # If the token is an operand, convert it to an integer and push it onto the stack
    operand = int(token)
    stack.append(operand)
    
    # The final result of the RPN expression is the last element in the stack
    return stack[0]
    
    # Example usage:
    # tokens = ["2", "1", "+", "3", "*"]
    # Output of evaluateRPN(tokens) should be 9
    
                                            
    Step-by-step Explanation:
  6. Initialization :
    • Create an empty stack named
      stack
      .
  7. Iteration :
    • Loop through each item in the
      tokens
      list.
    • For each item:
      • If the item is an operand, convert it to an integer and push it onto
        stack
        .
      • If the item is an operator:
        • Pop the top two operands from
          stack
          .
        • Perform the appropriate arithmetic operation (
          +
          ,
          -
          ,
          *
          ,
          /
          ).
        • Push the result of the operation back onto
          stack
          .
  8. Operator Handling :
    • When encountering
      +
      , pop two elements, add them, and push the result.
    • When encountering
      -
      , pop two elements, subtract the second popped element from the first, and push the result.
    • When encountering
      *
      , pop two elements, multiply them, and push the result.
    • When encountering
      /
      , pop two elements, perform integer division of the first popped element by the second, converting the result to integer, and push the result.
  9. Final Outcome :
    • Once all tokens have been processed, the only remaining element in
      stack
      is the result of the Reverse Polish Notation expression.
    • Return this single element.
By following these detailed steps and the provided pseudocode, you should be able to evaluate any valid Reverse Polish Notation expression accurately.