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In computer science, the shunting yard algorithm is a method for parsing arithmetical or logical expressions, or a combination of both, specified in infix notation.It can produce either a postfix notation string, also known as reverse Polish notation (RPN), or an abstract syntax tree (AST). [1]
Infix notation may also be distinguished from function notation, where the name of a function suggests a particular operation, and its arguments are the operands. An example of such a function notation would be S(1, 3) in which the function S denotes addition ("sum"): S (1, 3) = 1 + 3 = 4.
Many operators differ syntactically from user-defined functions. In most languages, a function is prefix notation with fixed precedence level and associativity and often with compulsory parentheses (e.g. Func(a) or (Func a) in Lisp). In contrast, many operators are infix notation and involve different use of delimiters such as parentheses.
Most stack-oriented languages operate in postfix or Reverse Polish notation: arguments or parameters for a command are listed before that command. For example, postfix notation would be written 2, 3, multiply instead of multiply, 2, 3 (prefix or Polish notation), or 2 multiply 3 (infix notation).
Video: Keys pressed for calculating eight times six on a HP-32SII (employing RPN) from 1991. Reverse Polish notation (RPN), also known as reverse Łukasiewicz notation, Polish postfix notation or simply postfix notation, is a mathematical notation in which operators follow their operands, in contrast to prefix or Polish notation (PN), in which operators precede their operands.
An operator which is non-associative cannot compete for operands with operators of equal precedence. In Prolog for example, the infix operator :-is non-associative, so constructs such as a :- b :- c are syntax errors. Unary prefix operators such as − (negation) or sin (trigonometric function) are typically associative prefix operators.
In computer science, an operator-precedence parser is a bottom-up parser that interprets an operator-precedence grammar.For example, most calculators use operator-precedence parsers to convert from the human-readable infix notation relying on order of operations to a format that is optimized for evaluation such as Reverse Polish notation (RPN).
In prefix notation, there is no need for any parentheses as long as each operator has a fixed number of operands. Pre-order traversal is also used to create a copy of the tree. Post-order traversal can generate a postfix representation ( Reverse Polish notation ) of a binary tree.