design a stack such that getMinimum( ) should be O

Question

This is one of an interview question. You need to design a stack which holds an integer value such that getMinimum() function should return the minimum element in the stack.

For example: consider the below example

case #1

5  --> TOP
1
4
6
2

When getMinimum() is called it should return 1, which is the minimum element 
in the stack. 

case #2

stack.pop()
stack.pop()

Note: Both 5 and 1 are poped out of the stack. So after this, the stack
looks like,

4  --> TOP
6
2

When getMinimum() is called is should return 2 which is the minimum in the 
stack.

Constriants:

1. getMinimum should return the minimum value in O(1)
2. Space constraint also has to be considered while designing it and if you use extra space, it should be of constant space.

Answer 1

I used a different kind of stack. Here is the implementation.

//
//  main.cpp
//  Eighth
//
//  Created by chaitanya on 4/11/13.
//  Copyright (c) 2013 cbilgika. All rights reserved.
//

#include <iostream>
#include <limits>
using namespace std;
struct stack
{
    int num;
    int minnum;
}a[100];

void push(int n,int m,int &top)
{

    top++;
    if (top>=100) {
        cout<<"Stack Full";
        cout<<endl;
    }
    else{
        a[top].num = n;
        a[top].minnum = m;
    }


}

void pop(int &top)
{
    if (top<0) {
        cout<<"Stack Empty";
        cout<<endl;
    }
    else{
       top--; 
    }


}
void print(int &top)
{
    cout<<"Stack: "<<endl;
    for (int j = 0; j<=top ; j++) {
        cout<<"("<<a[j].num<<","<<a[j].minnum<<")"<<endl;
    }
}


void get_min(int &top)
{
    if (top < 0)
    {
        cout<<"Empty Stack";
    }
    else{
        cout<<"Minimum element is: "<<a[top].minnum;
    }
    cout<<endl;
}

int main()
{

    int top = -1,min = numeric_limits<int>::min(),num;
    cout<<"Enter the list to push (-1 to stop): ";
    cin>>num;
    while (num!=-1) {
        if (top == -1) {
            min = num;
            push(num, min, top);
        }
        else{
            if (num < min) {
                min = num;
            }
            push(num, min, top);
        }
        cin>>num;
    }
    print(top);
    get_min(top);
    return 0;
}

Output:

Enter the list to push (-1 to stop): 5
1
4
6
2
-1
Stack: 
(5,5)
(1,1)
(4,1)
(6,1)
(2,1)
Minimum element is: 1

Try it. I think it answers the question. The second element of every pair gives the minimum value seen when that element was inserted.

Answer 2

Here is my Code which runs with O(1). The previous code which I posted had problem when the minimum element gets popped. I modified my code. This one uses another Stack that maintains minimum element present in stack above the current pushed element.

 class StackDemo
{
    int[] stk = new int[100];
    int top;
    public StackDemo()
    {
        top = -1;
    }
    public void Push(int value)
    {
        if (top == 100)
            Console.WriteLine("Stack Overflow");
        else
            stk[++top] = value;
    }
    public bool IsEmpty()
    {
        if (top == -1)
            return true;
        else
            return false;
    }
    public int Pop()
    {
        if (IsEmpty())
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Stack Underflow");
            return 0;
        }
        else
            return stk[top--];
    }
    public void Display()
    {
        for (int i = top; i >= 0; i--)
            Console.WriteLine(stk[i]);
    }
}
class MinStack : StackDemo
{
    int top;
    int[] stack = new int[100];
    StackDemo s1; int min;
    public MinStack()
    {
        top = -1;
        s1 = new StackDemo();
    }
    public void PushElement(int value)
    {
        s1.Push(value);
        if (top == 100)
            Console.WriteLine("Stack Overflow");
        if (top == -1)
        {
            stack[++top] = value;
            stack[++top] = value;   
        }
        else
        {
            //  stack[++top]=value;
            int ele = PopElement();
            stack[++top] = ele;
            int a = MininmumElement(min, value);
              stack[++top] = min;

                stack[++top] = value;
                stack[++top] = a;


        }
    }
    public int PopElement()
    {

        if (top == -1)
            return 1000;
        else
        {
            min = stack[top--];
            return stack[top--];
        }

    }
    public int PopfromStack()
    {
        if (top == -1)
            return 1000;
        else
        {
            s1.Pop();
            return PopElement();
        }
    }
    public int MininmumElement(int a,int b)
    {
        if (a > b)
            return b;
        else
            return a;
    }
    public int StackTop()
    {
        return stack[top];
    }
    public void DisplayMinStack()
    {
        for (int i = top; i >= 0; i--)
            Console.WriteLine(stack[i]);
    }
}
class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        MinStack ms = new MinStack();
        ms.PushElement(15);
        ms.PushElement(2);
        ms.PushElement(1);
        ms.PushElement(13);
        ms.PushElement(5);
        ms.PushElement(21);
        Console.WriteLine("Min Stack");
        ms.DisplayMinStack();
        Console.WriteLine("Minimum Element:"+ms.StackTop());
        ms.PopfromStack();
        ms.PopfromStack();
        ms.PopfromStack();
        ms.PopfromStack();

        Console.WriteLine("Min Stack");
        ms.DisplayMinStack();
        Console.WriteLine("Minimum Element:" + ms.StackTop());
        Thread.Sleep(1000000);
    }
}

Answer 3

public class MinStack<E>{

    private final LinkedList<E> mainStack = new LinkedList<E>();
    private final LinkedList<E> minStack = new LinkedList<E>();
    private final Comparator<E> comparator;

    public MinStack(Comparator<E> comparator) 
    {
        this.comparator = comparator;
    }

    /**
     * Pushes an element onto the stack.
     *
     *
     * @param e the element to push
     */
    public void push(E e) {
        mainStack.push(e);
        if(minStack.isEmpty())
        {
            minStack.push(e);
        }
        else if(comparator.compare(e, minStack.peek())<=0)
        {
            minStack.push(e);
        }
        else
        {
            minStack.push(minStack.peek());
        }
    }

    /**
     * Pops an element from the stack.
     *
     *
     * @throws NoSuchElementException if this stack is empty
     */
    public E pop() {
       minStack.pop();
       return  mainStack.pop();
    }

    /**
     * Returns but not remove smallest element from the stack. Return null if stack is empty.
     *
     */
    public E getMinimum()
    {
        return minStack.peek();
    }

    @Override
    public String toString() {
        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
        sb.append("Main stack{");
        for (E e : mainStack) {         
            sb.append(e.toString()).append(",");
        }
        sb.append("}");

        sb.append(" Min stack{");
        for (E e : minStack) {          
            sb.append(e.toString()).append(",");
        }
        sb.append("}");

        sb.append(" Minimum = ").append(getMinimum());
        return sb.toString();
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        MinStack<Integer> st = new MinStack<Integer>(Comparators.INTEGERS);

        st.push(2);
        Assert.assertTrue("2 is min in stack {2}", st.getMinimum().equals(2));
        System.out.println(st);

        st.push(6);
        Assert.assertTrue("2 is min in stack {2,6}", st.getMinimum().equals(2));
        System.out.println(st);

        st.push(4);
        Assert.assertTrue("2 is min in stack {2,6,4}", st.getMinimum().equals(2));
        System.out.println(st);

        st.push(1);
        Assert.assertTrue("1 is min in stack {2,6,4,1}", st.getMinimum().equals(1));
        System.out.println(st);

        st.push(5);
        Assert.assertTrue("1 is min in stack {2,6,4,1,5}", st.getMinimum().equals(1));
        System.out.println(st);

        st.pop();
        Assert.assertTrue("1 is min in stack {2,6,4,1}", st.getMinimum().equals(1));
        System.out.println(st);

        st.pop();
        Assert.assertTrue("2 is min in stack {2,6,4}", st.getMinimum().equals(2));
        System.out.println(st);

        st.pop();
        Assert.assertTrue("2 is min in stack {2,6}", st.getMinimum().equals(2));
        System.out.println(st);

        st.pop();
        Assert.assertTrue("2 is min in stack {2}", st.getMinimum().equals(2));
        System.out.println(st);

        st.pop();
        Assert.assertTrue("null is min in stack {}", st.getMinimum()==null);
        System.out.println(st);
    }
}

Answer 4

I found a solution that satisfies all the constraints mentioned (constant time operations) and constant extra space.

The idea is to store the difference between min value and the input number, and update the min value if it is no longer the minimum.

The code is as follows:

public class MinStack {
    long min;
    Stack<Long> stack;

    public MinStack(){
        stack = new Stack<>();
    }

    public void push(int x) {
        if (stack.isEmpty()) {
            stack.push(0L);
            min = x;
        } else {
            stack.push(x - min); //Could be negative if min value needs to change
            if (x < min) min = x;
        }
    }

    public int pop() {
        if (stack.isEmpty()) return;

        long pop = stack.pop();

        if (pop < 0) {
            long ret = min
            min = min - pop; //If negative, increase the min value
            return (int)ret;
        }
        return (int)(pop + min);

    }

    public int top() {
        long top = stack.peek();
        if (top < 0) {
            return (int)min;
        } else {
           return (int)(top + min);
        }
    }

    public int getMin() {
        return (int)min;
    }
}

Credit goes to: https://leetcode.com/discuss/15679/share-my-java-solution-with-only-one-stack

Answer 5

Here is the C++ implementation of Jon Skeets Answer. It might not be the most optimal way of implementing it, but it does exactly what it's supposed to.

class Stack {
private:
    struct stack_node {
        int val;
        stack_node *next;
    };
    stack_node *top;
    stack_node *min_top;
public:
    Stack() {
        top = nullptr;
        min_top = nullptr;
    }    
    void push(int num) {
        stack_node *new_node = nullptr;
        new_node = new stack_node;
        new_node->val = num;

        if (is_empty()) {
            top = new_node;
            new_node->next = nullptr;

            min_top = new_node;
            new_node->next = nullptr;
        } else {
            new_node->next = top;
            top = new_node;

            if (new_node->val <= min_top->val) {
                new_node->next = min_top;
                min_top = new_node;
            }
        }
    }

    void pop(int &num) {
        stack_node *tmp_node = nullptr;
        stack_node *min_tmp = nullptr;

        if (is_empty()) {
            std::cout << "It's empty\n";
        } else {
            num = top->val;
            if (top->val == min_top->val) {
                min_tmp = min_top->next;
                delete min_top;
                min_top = min_tmp;
            }
            tmp_node = top->next;
            delete top;
            top = tmp_node;
        }
    }

    bool is_empty() const {
        return !top;
    }

    void get_min(int &item) {
        item = min_top->val;
    }
};

And here is the driver for the class

int main() {
    int pop, min_el;
    Stack my_stack;

    my_stack.push(4);
    my_stack.push(6);
    my_stack.push(88);
    my_stack.push(1);
    my_stack.push(234);
    my_stack.push(2);

    my_stack.get_min(min_el);
    cout << "Min: " << min_el << endl;

    my_stack.pop(pop);
    cout << "Popped stock element: " << pop << endl;

    my_stack.pop(pop);
    cout << "Popped stock element: " << pop << endl;

    my_stack.pop(pop);
    cout << "Popped stock element: " << pop << endl;

    my_stack.get_min(min_el);
    cout << "Min: " << min_el << endl;

    return 0;
}

Output:

Min: 1
Popped stock element: 2
Popped stock element: 234
Popped stock element: 1
Min: 4

Answer 6

#include<stdio.h>
struct stack
{
    int data;
    int mindata;
}a[100];

void push(int *tos,int input)
{
    if (*tos > 100)
    {
        printf("overflow");
        return;
    }
    (*tos)++;
    a[(*tos)].data=input;
    if (0 == *tos)
        a[*tos].mindata=input;
    else if (a[*tos -1].mindata < input)
        a[*tos].mindata=a[*tos -1].mindata;
    else
        a[*tos].mindata=input;
}

int pop(int * tos)
{
    if (*tos <= -1)
    {
        printf("underflow");
        return -1;
    }
    return(a[(*tos)--].data);
}
void display(int tos)
{
    while (tos > -1)
    {
        printf("%d:%d\t",a[tos].data,a[tos].mindata);
        tos--;
    }    
}

int min(int tos)
{
   return(a[tos].mindata);
}
int main()
{
int tos=-1,x,choice;
while(1)
{
    printf("press 1-push,2-pop,3-mindata,4-display,5-exit ");
    scanf("%d",&choice);
    switch(choice)
    {
    case 1: printf("enter data to push");
            scanf("%d",&x);
            push(&tos,x);
            break;
    case 2: printf("the poped out data=%d ",pop(&tos));
            break;
    case 3: printf("The min peeped data:%d",min(tos));
            break;
    case 4: printf("The elements of stack \n");
            display(tos);
            break;
    default: exit(0);
}
}