README.md

Implementation of a Stack with Function Pointers to Simulate Polymorphism in C Language

Description

• The stack is implemented using array.
• The stack uses function pointers to simulate polymorphism in C language.
• The function pointers are used to point to the real implementation of common stack operations, e.g., push, pop, and top, like std::stack in C++.
• This project is default to support the data type of int, char, and string, but it can be easily extended to support other data types, e.g., float, double and so on.

Function Pointers

• void (*init)(struct Stack *s): Initialize the stack.
• void (*push)(struct Stack *s, void *element): Push an element into the stack.
• void* (*pop)(struct Stack *s): Pop an element from the stack.
• void* (*top)(struct Stack *s): Get the top element of the stack.
• bool (*isFull)(struct Stack *s): Check if the stack is full.
• bool (*isEmpty)(struct Stack *s): Check if the stack is empty.
• int (*size)(struct Stack *s): Get the current size of the stack.
• void (*free)(struct Stack *s): Free the memory occupied by the stack.
• void (*print)(struct Stack *s): Print the information of the stack.

Simple Usage

1. Compile the source code to object files.

   $ make test_stack
   $ gcc -c -o <your_program>.o <your_program>.c

2. Link the object files to the executable file.

   $ gcc -Wall -o <your_program> <your_program>.o stack/stack.o stack/stack_char.o stack/stack_string.o stack/stack_int.o
   $ ./<your_program>

3. Demo of stack of int data type.

   #include "stack/stack.h"
   int main() {
       Stack *stack = createStack(INT);
       if (!stack->top(stack)) {
           printf("stack is empty\n");
       }
       int i = 123;
       stack->push(stack, &i);
       int *poppedInt = (int *)stack->pop(stack);
       printf("Popped from int stack: %d\n\n", *poppedInt);
       stack->free(stack);
       return 0;
   }

4. Demo of stack of char data type.

   #include "stack/stack.h"
   int main() {
       Stack *stack = createStack(CHAR);
       if (*(char*)stack->top(stack) == '\0') {
           printf("stack is empty\n");
       }
       char c = 'a';
       stack->push(stack, &c);  // passed by reference
       char *poppedChar = (char *)stack->pop(stack);
       printf("Popped from char stack: %c\n\n", *poppedChar);
       stack->free(stack);
       return 0;
   }

Key Note

• The parameter passed to createStack is the type of the stack, which can be INT, CHAR, or STRING. You can also see the supported data types in the struct StackType of stack/stack.h.
• When using push, you need to pass the memory address of the data to be pushed into the stack, because the function pointer of push is defined as void (*push)(struct Stack *s, void *element).
• When using pop and top, you need to cast the return value to the correct data type, just like using malloc() in C, to avoid the warning of incompatible pointer type, beacuse the return value is a void * pointer.
• When stack is empty during pop and top:
  • For INT type, the return value of pop and top are NULL.
  • For CHAR type, the return value of pop and top are "\0".
  • For STRING type, the return value of pop and top are "\0".

Test

• Test stack with polymorphism

  make test TARGET=test_stack

• Test stack of int

  make test TARGET=test_stack_int   

• Test stack of char

  make test TARGET=test_stack_char   

• Test stack of string

  make test TARGET=test_stack_string   

Extension

If you want to extend the stack to support other data types, e.g., float, double, you can follow the steps below:

1. Add a new stack file, e.g., stack_float.c and stack_float.h in the stack directory.
2. Implement the stack functions in stack_float.c and declare the functions in stack_float.h.
3. Add the new rules in the Makefile to compile the new stack files.

   OBJS_STACK = stack/stack.o stack/stack_char.o stack/stack_string.o stack/stack_int.o stack/stack_float.o 

4. Update enum StackType in stack/stack.h to support the new data type.
5. Update stack/stack.c to support the new data type.
   • Add #include "stack_float.h"
   • Add the switch case according to the new data type in createStack function.
6. Re-compile the source code and link the object files to the executable file.

   $ make test_stack
   $ gcc -c -o <your_program>.o <your_program>.c
   $ gcc -Wall -o <your_program> <your_program>.o stack/stack.o stack/stack_char.o stack/stack_string.o stack/stack_int.o stack/stack_float.o
   $ ./<your_program>