Description of the Assignment. The assignment involves developing an algorithm in Java to implement a basic stack data structure. The stack should have the ability to push entries onto the stack and pop entries off the stack. The context of the assignment is a manufacturing assembly line for dauto-mobiles with three inspection stations. The algorithm keeps track of inspections using a stack data structure. The stack is initialized with three entries (0, indicating that an inspection has not occurred) and, as the vehicle progresses through the line, entries are popped off at each inspection station. public class InspectionStack { private static final int MAX_SIZE = 3; private int[] stackArray; private int top; public InspectionStack() { stackArray = new int[MAX_SIZE]; top = - 1; } // Method to push items onto the stack public void push(int item) { if (top < MAX_SIZE - 1) { stackArray[++top] = item; } else { System.out.println("Stack is full. Cannot push " + item); } } // Method to pop items off of the stack public void pop() { if (top >= 0) { int poppedItem = stackArray[top -- ]; System.out.println("Inspector popped: " + poppedItem); } else {
System.out.println("Stack is empty. Cannot pop."); } } public static void main(String[] args) { InspectionStack inspectionStack = new InspectionStack(); // Pushing three items onto the stack inspectionStack.push(2); inspectionStack.push(1); inspectionStack.push(0); // Popping three items off of the stack inspectionStack.pop(); inspectionStack.pop(); inspectionStack.pop(); } } Asymptotic Analysis. · Time Complexity: · Push operation: O(1) · Pop operation: O(1) Both push and pop operations have constant time complexity, making the algorithm efficient for the given problem. · Space Complexity: · The space complexity is O(1) as it uses a fixed-size array to represent the stack. Comparison and Conclusion The chosen implementation, using an array-based stack, provides a straightforward and efficient solution for the specified task. The constant time complexity for both push and pop operations ensures that the algorithm performs well regardless of the size of the stack. While a linked list implementation could be an alternative, it might introduce additional overhead in terms of memory and complexity, making the array implementation more suitable for this scenario.