What is a Stack?
A Stack is a linear data structure that follows the Last In, First Out (LIFO) principle. In simple terms, the last element added to the stack is the first one to be removed. Imagine a stack of plates: the last plate placed on top is the first one you take off.
Key Operations
- Push: Adds an item to the top of the stack.
- Pop: Removes and returns the item at the top of the stack.
- Peek: Returns the top item without removing it.
- isEmpty: Checks if the stack has any items.
- size: Returns the number of items in the stack.
- clear: Removes all items from the stack.
Stack Representation in JavaScript
Unlike some programming languages that provide built-in stack data structures, JavaScript does not have a native Stack implementation. However, we can easily create our own Stack class using JavaScript arrays and their methods. This gives us full control over the implementation while maintaining the core LIFO (Last In, First Out) principle of stacks.
Note - Now on we will be creating instances of stack using array to solve the problems.
In JavaScript, stacks can be implemented using arrays, which have built-in methods like .push()
and .pop()
that make managing stack operations straightforward.
// Example Usage of Stack Class
Summary
We have successfully implemented a Stack data structure using JavaScript arrays and demonstrated all its core operations:
- Push: Adding elements to the top
- Pop: Removing elements from the top
- Peek: Viewing the top element
- isEmpty: Checking if stack is empty
- size: Getting number of elements
- clear: Removing all elements
The implementation shows how straightforward it is to create a Stack using JavaScript's built-in array methods. The code is clean, efficient, and handles edge cases appropriately.
Key Takeaways
- Stack operations map naturally to array methods in JavaScript
- Error handling ensures robustness (e.g., handling empty stack operations)
- The implementation maintains the LIFO (Last In, First Out) principle
- All operations have O(1) time complexity
To use this Stack implementation in your code, simply create a new instance of the Stack class and copy the above code: