push_swap

📌 Description

push_swap is a sorting algorithm project where a stack of integers must be sorted using a limited set of operations and two stacks (a and b). The goal is to minimize the number of operations.

---

⚙️ Features

• Sorting using only allowed stack operations
• Optimized for minimal moves
• Handles different input sizes efficiently
• Supports multiple sorting strategies
• Bonus: checker program for validation

---

🛠️ Technologies

• C
• Algorithms
• Data Structures (Stacks)

---

🚀 Compilation

make

Build bonus (checker):

make bonus

Clean files:

make clean
make fclean
make re

---

🚀 Usage

./push_swap 3 1 2
./push_swap "5 4 3 2 1"

Using checker (bonus):

ARG="5 3 1 4 2"
./push_swap $ARG | ./checker $ARG

---

📌 Example Output

pb
pb
sa
pa
pa

---

🧠 Algorithms

• Small inputs (≤5) → simple sorting (hardcoded logic)
• Medium inputs → chunk-based sorting
• Large inputs → radix sort

The program selects the most efficient algorithm depending on input size.

---

🎯 Performance

• 100 numbers → ~500–700 operations
• 500 numbers → ~5000–7000 operations

---

📂 Project Structure

• parsing – input validation
• operations – stack operations
• algorithms – sorting logic
• utils – helper functions

---

🎯 Purpose

This project develops problem-solving skills, algorithm optimization, and understanding of low-level data structures.

---

🤝 Team Work

This project was developed collaboratively with a teammate. We worked together on algorithm design, debugging, and optimization strategies, improving both performance and code quality.

---

👤 Author

Aghvan Aleksanyan 42 Yerevan Student