sorting elements of stack using javascript

Question

I m trying to understand sorting a stack elements using recursion given in http://www.geeksforgeeks.org/sort-a-stack-using-recursion/ Use of any loop constructs like while, for..etc is not allowed. We can only use the following ADT functions on Stack S:

is_empty(S) : Tests whether stack is empty or not.

push(S) : Adds new element to the stack.

pop(S) : Removes top element from the stack.

top(S) : Returns value of the top element. Note that this function does not remove element from the stack. I tried below but getting error

var stack = [-3, 14, 18, -5, 30];

function sortStack() {
  if (stack.length > 0) {
    temp = stack.pop();
    sortStack();
    sortedInsert(temp, stack);
  }
}

function sortedInsert(element, stack) {
  if (stack.length > 0 || element > stack[stack.length - 1]) {
    stack.push(element);
  } else {
    temp = stack.pop();
    sortedInsert(element, stack);
    stack.push(temp);
  }

}

sortStack();

console.log(stack);

RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded
at sortedInsert:12:22
at sortedInsert:21:5
at sortedInsert:21:5
at sortedInsert:21:5
at sortedInsert:21:5
at sortedInsert:21:5

Answer 1

With javascript, local (scoped) variables need to be declared as var, otherwise they are static. Without the var before t in sortStack(), t would be a static and just get overwritten with each pop, leaving t == -3 on all the returns from sortStack(). The same issue occurs with x in sortedInsert().

var stack = [-3, 14, 18, -5, 30];

function sortStack(s) {
  if (s.length > 0) {
    var t = s.pop();
    sortStack(s);
    sortedInsert(s, t);
  }
}

function sortedInsert(s, e) {
  if (s.length == 0 || e > s[s.length - 1]) {
    s.push(e);
  } else {
    var x = s.pop();
    sortedInsert(s, e);
    s.push(x);
  }
}

sortStack(stack);

console.log(stack);

Answer 2

var stack = [-3, 14, 18, -5, 30];

function compare(a,b) {

    return parseInt(a, 10) - parseInt(b, 10);
    }

stack.sort(compare);

console.log(stack);

Answer 3

If you just want to sort the array, you can use sort() method. Check example below:

var stack = [-3, 14, 18, -5, 30];
console.log(stack.sort());

If you want to understand how to sort array manually, have a look at this ans (Note: below code is copied from same ans):

var stack = [-3, 14, 18, -5, 30];

function arrSort(arr, subkey) {
  //Default to 0 if no subkey is set
  subkey = (subkey === undefined ? 0 : subkey);

  var a = arr.slice(0),
      b = [], x;

  // For each section in the array, create an array containing whatever we are trying to sort by and our unique ID
  for (x in a) {
    b[x] = [a[x][subkey], x];
  }

  b = b.sort();

  //Wipe out all the data that's currently in arr!
  arr.splice(0, arr.length);

  for (x in b) {
    arr.push(a[b[x][1]]);
  }

  return arr;
}

// console.log(arrSort(stack, 0));
console.log(arrSort(stack));