Convert the following infix expression to postfix expression
A + B * C-D / E *F
Assume the following precedence of operators.
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Answer:
When you write an arithmetic expression such as B * C, the form of the expression provides you with information so that you can interpret it correctly. In this case we know that the variable B is being multiplied by the variable C since the multiplication operator * appears between them in the expression. This type of notation is referred to as infix since the operator is in between the two operands that it is working on.
Consider another infix example, A + B * C. The operators + and * still appear between the operands, but there is a problem. Which operands do they work on? Does the + work on A and B or does the * take B and C? The expression seems ambiguous.
In fact, you have been reading and writing these types of expressions for a long time and they do not cause you any problem. The reason for this is that you know something about the operators + and *. Each operator has a precedence level. Operators of higher precedence are used before operators of lower precedence. The only thing that can change that order is the presence of parentheses. The precedence order for arithmetic operators places multiplication and division above addition and subtraction. If two operators of equal precedence appear, then a left-to-right ordering or associativity is used.
Let’s interpret the troublesome expression A + B * C using operator precedence. B and C are multiplied first, and A is then added to that result. (A + B) * C would force the addition of A and B to be done first before the multiplication. In expression A + B + C, by precedence (via associativity), the leftmost + would be done first.
Although all this may be obvious to you, remember that computers need to know exactly what operators to perform and in what order. One way to write an expression that guarantees there will be no confusion with respect to the order of operations is to create what is called a fully parenthesized expression. This type of expression uses one pair of parentheses for each operator. The parentheses dictate the order of operations; there is no ambiguity. There is also no need to remember any precedence rules.
The expression A + B * C + D can be rewritten as ((A + (B * C)) + D) to show that the multiplication happens first, followed by the leftmost addition. A + B + C + D can be written as (((A + B) + C) + D) since the addition operations associate from left to right.
There are two other very important expression formats that may not seem obvious to you at first. Consider the infix expression A + B. What would happen if we moved the operator before the two operands? The resulting expression would be + A B. Likewise, we could move the operator to the end. We would get A B +. These look a bit strange.