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Questions and Answers
What is the principle that a stack follows?
Which of the following is NOT a basic operation performed on a stack?
What is the correct way to implement a stack in modern programming languages?
Which of the following is NOT a real-life example of a stack data structure?
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What is the purpose of using a stack data structure in programming languages?
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Which of the following is a limitation of the stack data structure?
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Study Notes
Stack Data Structure
A stack is a linear data structure that follows the Last In First Out (LIFO) or First In Last Out (FIFO) principle. It is an abstract data type (ADT) commonly used in programming languages.
Key Features
- Access: Access to data is limited to the top element only.
- Insertion and Deletion: Both operations occur at the top of the stack.
Operations
- Push: Inserting a new element into the top of the stack.
- Pop: Removing an element from the top of the stack.
- Peek or Top: Accessing the top element without removing it.
- IsEmpty: Check if the stack is empty.
- Size: Get the current size of the stack.
Real-Life Examples
Real-life examples include piles of books, decks of cards, or stacks of plates. These examples illustrate the principle that elements are accessed from one end only and can be manipulated with operations like push, pop, peek, or top.
Applications
Stacks have various applications including function calls in programming languages, parentheses checking, string reversals, syntax parsing by compilers, memory management, and more.
Implementations
To implement a stack, you need to store elements in contiguous memory (arrays) or non-contiguous memory (linked lists). In modern programming languages, built-in functions make the process easier. For example, in Java, you can use the push() method for insertion and the pop() method for removal.
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Description
Learn about the stack data structure, an abstract data type (ADT) that follows the Last In First Out (LIFO) or First In Last Out (FIFO) principle. Explore its key features, operations like push and pop, real-life examples, applications in programming and implementations in modern languages.
