Thread: Notation help!

Hey guys, I need some help regarding prefix and postfix notations. I got myself confused like really bad. Correct me If i'm wrong...

So here are the questions...

infix > prefix notation

a) A * (B+C) - D

My answer is

= * A (+BC) - D

= *+A(BC) - D

= *+-A B C D

b) M / (E+Z) * N

= / M (E+Z) * N

= /+ (EZ) * m

= /+* MEZ


infix > postfix notation

a) - A / * E B M

= A / * E B M -

= A / E B M - *

= A E BM - * /


b) - + J K * L M

= + J K * L M -

= J K * L M - +

= J K L M - + *


I don't think what i did is right... >_>

Thanks....

This does not really belong in C programming, so I have moved it to General Discussions.

A simple method here is to work from expressions that bind tightest ("inner expressions", to put it in another way). So you have say, two terms and an operator, and you shuffle them around until you get the desired notation, then you consider the result a new term, and so find the next term and operator to work with. For example:
A * (B+C) - D
A * (+ B C) - D
(* A + B C) - D
- * A + B C D

didn't you say you have to work from the inner expression first?

Yes, and you insert at the front. So the later you handle an expression, the further to the front it appears.

Postfix is pretty much the same, except that you append at the back.

but why did you put "-" before "*"? didn't you say you have to work from the inner expression first?

A * (B+C) - D is actually (A * (B + C)) - D
So, once we have expressed (B + C) as (+ B C), we can express (A * (B + C)) in prefix notation as (* A + B C).

So it should be like this = * - A + B C D

The infix equivalent of that expression would be: (A - (B + C)) * D

and also, what about the postfix? how do you begin to transform it?

The idea is the same.

Oh, no. Infix is the messiest of notations. The others are much easier to work with.

Prefix to postfix is quite easy with a recursive function. The function reads a token. If the token is a number, it writes it to the result. If it's an operator, it calls itself twice (for the two operands) and then writes the operator out.

Meanwhile, a visual trick to find the final expression is for you to first add all superfluous parenthesis following the usual order of evaluation rules for the expression at hand.

1. A / B + C * D
2. ( (A / B) + (C * D) )

Then move the operator within each parenthesis either to the left or right of both its operands, depending on the notation you want, while keeping the operator still inside its set of parenthesis.

3.prefix. ( + ( / A B) ( * C D) )
3.postfix. ( (A B / ) ( C D * ) + )

Then just remove the parenthesis.

4.prefix. + / A B * C D
4.postfix. A B / C D * +