Java: Sort the elements of a stack in ascending order

Last update on March 11 2025 13:54:55 (UTC/GMT +8 hours)

Write a Java program to sort the elements of a given stack in ascending order.

Sample Solution:

Java Code:

import java.util.Scanner;
public class Stack {
  private int[] arr;
  private int top;

  // Constructor to initialize the stack
  public Stack(int size) {
    arr = new int[size];
    top = -1;
  }

  // Method to push an element onto the stack
  public void push(int num) {
    if (top == arr.length - 1) {
      System.out.println("Stack is full");
    } else {
      top++;
      arr[top] = num;
    }
  }

  // Method to pop an element from the stack
  public int pop() {
    if (top == -1) {
      System.out.println("Stack Underflow");
      return -1;
    } else {
      int poppedElement = arr[top];
      top--;
      return poppedElement;
    }
  }

  // Method to get the top element of the stack
  public int peek() {
    if (top == -1) {
      System.out.println("Stack is empty");
      return -1;
    } else {
      return arr[top];
    }
  }

  // Method to check if the stack is empty
  public boolean isEmpty() {
    return top == -1;
  }

  public void sort() {
    if (top == -1) {
      System.out.println("Stack is empty");
      return;
    }

    Stack tempStack = new Stack(arr.length);

    while (!isEmpty()) {
      int temp = pop();

      while (!tempStack.isEmpty() && tempStack.peek() > temp) {
        push(tempStack.pop());
      }

      tempStack.push(temp);
    }

    while (!tempStack.isEmpty()) {
      push(tempStack.pop());
    }
  }

  public void display() {
    if (top == -1) {
      System.out.println("Stack is empty");
    } else {
      System.out.print("Stack elements: ");
      for (int i = top; i >= 0; i--) {
        System.out.print(arr[i] + " ");
      }
      System.out.println();
    }
  }

  public static void main(String[] args) {
    System.out.println("Initialize a stack:");
    Stack stack = new Stack(6);
    System.out.println("\nInput some elements on the stack:");
    stack.push(1);
    stack.push(3);
    stack.push(2);
    stack.push(0);
    stack.push(7);
    stack.push(5);
    stack.display();
    System.out.println("\nSort the elements of the stack in ascending order:");
    stack.sort();
    stack.display();
  }
}

Sample Output:

Initialize a stack:

Input some elements on the stack:
Stack elements: 5 7 0 2 3 1

Sort the elements of the stack in ascending order:
Stack elements: 0 1 2 3 5 7

Flowchart:

For more Practice: Solve these Related Problems:

Write a Java program to sort a stack in ascending order using only stack operations and recursion.
Write a Java program to implement an algorithm that sorts a stack using an auxiliary stack without using extra data structures.
Write a Java program to sort a stack in ascending order by repeatedly removing elements and inserting them in sorted order.
Write a Java program to merge two sorted stacks into one sorted (ascending) stack using iterative methods.

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