The Push Swap project is a challenging algorithmic task from 42 School, designed to test your ability to sort numbers using two stacks, named Stack A and Stack B. The objective is to sort the numbers in Stack A in ascending order using a limited set of instructions, while managing and optimizing the use of both stacks and instructions.
The project uses a specific set of instructions to manipulate the stacks:
sa(swap a): Swap the first 2 elements at the top of stack a.sb(swap b): Swap the first 2 elements at the top of stack b.ss:saandsbat the same time.pa(push a): Take the first element at the top of b and put it at the top of a.pb(push b): Take the first element at the top of a and put it at the top of b.ra(rotate a): Shift up all elements of stack a by 1. The first element becomes the last one.rb(rotate b): Shift up all elements of stack b by 1. The first element becomes the last one.rra(reverse rotate a): Shift down all elements of stack a by 1. The last element becomes the first one.rrb(reverse rotate b): Shift down all elements of stack b by 1. The last element becomes the first one.rrr:rraandrrbat the same time.
The sorting process involves strategically using these instructions to move elements between Stack A and Stack B, and to arrange them in the correct order. The goal is to achieve this with the least number of moves possible, optimizing the sorting algorithm's efficiency.
Initial stacks:
After applying a series of instructions, Stack A should be sorted:
- To develop a deep understanding of sorting algorithms and data structures.
- To practice optimizing code for efficiency and performance.
- To enhance problem-solving and algorithmic thinking skills.
This project is part of the curriculum at 42 School. Contributions and feedback are welcome to improve the algorithm and documentation.
https://github.com/o-reo/push_swap_visualizer
https://medium.com/nerd-for-tech/push-swap-tutorial-fa746e6aba1e