push_swap

Sort a stack of integers using a limited set of operations on two stacks. The goal is to minimize the total number of operations.

Build

make
./push_swap 4 67 3 87 23

Validate:

ARG="4 67 3 87 23"
./push_swap $ARG | ./checker $ARG

Algorithm

For 2-3 elements, hardcoded sequences.

For larger inputs, I use a cost-based approach: each element in stack A is evaluated by how many rotations of A and B it would take to insert it at the right position in B. The cheapest element gets moved first. Stack B stays in descending order, then everything is pushed back to A at the end.

Results:

• 100 numbers: < 700 operations
• 500 numbers: < 5500 operations

Operations

Op	What it does
sa sb ss	Swap top two elements of a, b, or both
pa pb	Push top of one stack onto the other
ra rb rr	Rotate up (top goes to bottom)
rra rrb rrr	Rotate down (bottom goes to top)

Duplicates, non-integer inputs, and overflow are rejected with an error.

Structure

├── includes/     - headers
├── libft/        - libft submodule
└── srcs/         - stack ops, cost computation, input parsing, utils