Introduction to Stack
Explore the stack data structure and its Last In First Out (LIFO) principle. Learn how to implement operations such as push, pop, and peek, and understand real-world applications like undo actions, browser navigation, and function call management.
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Arrays and linked lists are flexible structures. We can access, insert, or remove elements at any position. That flexibility is useful, but it also means neither structure enforces any rule about the order in which elements are processed. For specific categories of problems, such as tracking function calls, undoing operations, or parsing nested structures, we always need the most recently added item handled first.
This is a primary use case for stacks. A stack enforces last in, first out (LIFO) ordering, which is suited for scenarios where the most recent item is processed first.
What is a stack?
A stack is a linear data structure that stores elements in a particular order. It follows the last in, first out (LIFO) principle. This means that the most recently added element is the first one to be removed. ... ...