stack and queue in c

[c252]

I implemented a stack and queue in c, James told me it was okay even though the section isn't open for code contribution.

[leios]

I'll be updating this section this weekend (hopefully), so we'll hold off on merging this until that is done.

[c252]

sounds good.

…

On Wed, Aug 8, 2018 at 9:00 PM, James Schloss ***@***.***> wrote: I'll be updating this section this weekend (hopefully), so we'll hold off on merging this until that is done. — You are receiving this because you authored the thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#347 (comment)>, or mute the thread <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AXqo7kjrq9d_9Q6mvPcvyDXR_glrgSVwks5uO4mfgaJpZM4V04j4> .

[zsparal]

I'm not sure this is how I'd implement stacks and queues. Using arrays as backing stores is the right idea but the implementation is a bit problematic:

1. They are not reusable since they're using global variables
2. They're using a fixed size with no error handling when the available space runs out

I think the respective implementations should use:

1. A dynamically growing array for stacks
2. A dynamically growing circular buffer for queues.

These have the following advantages:

1. They're still cache-friendly, contiguous data structures
2. Even though they have worse worst-case complexity than the respectivelinked list implementations, the amortized insertion/deletion complexity is still O(1)
3. It gracefully handles more than 256 elements
4. Encapsulating the necessary data in a struct means that one can create multiple queues/stacks

[c252]

I will put in some error handling for the size. One problem is that I don't think you can have dynamically sized arrays in c. I think my queue implementation could also be more efficient though.

(should I close this PR, commit the changes and then make a new one)

[Gathros]

No, you can just commit to the same branch and the PR updates. Also you use malloc and resize it with realloc to make a dynamically sized array in c.

[zsparal]

Of course you can have dynamically sized arrays in C, it wouldn't be a very useful language otherwise :) You just need to do it by hand with malloc