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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]
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.
Multiplication normally has higher precedence than addition, [1] for example, so 3+4×5 = 3+(4×5) ≠ (3+4)×5. In terms of operator position, an operator may be prefix, postfix, or infix. A prefix operator immediately precedes its operand, as in −x. A postfix operator immediately succeeds its
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 infix notation, unlike in prefix or postfix notations, parentheses surrounding groups of operands and operators are necessary to indicate the intended order in which operations are to be performed. In the absence of parentheses, certain precedence rules determine the order of operations.
The rank of an operation is called its precedence, and an operation with a higher precedence is performed before operations with lower precedence. Calculators generally perform operations with the same precedence from left to right, [ 1 ] but some programming languages and calculators adopt different conventions.
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.
Immediate-execution calculators are based on a mixture of infix and postfix notation: binary operations are done as infix, but unary operations are postfix. Because operators are applied one-at-a-time, the user must work out which operator key to use at each stage, and this can lead to problems.