A Stack is a linear data structure that follows a specific order for operations. It can be understood as a collection of elements that allows for adding and removing elements in a specific manner. The two primary order types are:
- LIFO (Last In First Out): The most recently added element is the first to be removed.
- FILO (First In Last Out): The first element added is the last one to be removed.
- Top: The most recently added element that can be removed next.
- Push: The operation of adding an element to the stack.
- Pop: The operation of removing the top element from the stack.
- Peek/Top: The operation to view the top element without removing it.
- IsEmpty: A check to see if the stack has no elements.
- Push: Add an item to the top of the stack.
- Pop: Remove the item from the top of the stack.
- Peek: Retrieve the top item without removing it.
- IsEmpty: Check if the stack is empty.
Stacks are fundamental data structures that are widely used in various applications, such as expression parsing, backtracking algorithms, and memory management in programming languages. Understanding how to implement and manipulate stacks is essential for many computer science concepts.