stack in data structure: 12 flashcards
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1. What does LIFO stand for and what does it mean in the context of a stack?
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LIFO stands for Last In, First Out. It means the last element added to the stack is the first one to be removed.
2. What are the three primary operations of a stack?
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Push (add to top), Pop (remove from top), and Peek (view top element without removing it).
3. What is a stack overflow?
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A stack overflow occurs when a stack exceeds its allocated memory, often caused by infinite recursion or deeply nested function calls.
4. What is a stack underflow?
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A stack underflow occurs when trying to pop from an empty stack.
5. What is the time complexity of push, pop, and peek operations in a well-implemented stack?
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O(1) — constant time.
6. What is the call stack?
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The call stack is a hardware/software stack that manages function calls, local variables, and return addresses in programming languages.
7. How does a stack help implement undo functionality?
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Each action is pushed onto an undo stack. Pressing undo pops the most recent action, reversing it.
8. What are the two common ways to implement a stack?
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Using an array (fixed size) or a linked list (dynamic size).
9. How does a stack help check balanced parentheses in code?
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Opening brackets are pushed onto the stack; when a closing bracket is encountered, it is matched with the top of the stack. If all match and the stack is empty, the expression is balanced.
10. What is the key difference between a stack and a queue?
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A stack follows LIFO (Last In, First Out), while a queue follows FIFO (First In, First Out).
11. Can you access an element in the middle of a stack directly?
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No. By definition, you can only access the top element. To reach a middle element, you must pop all elements above it first.
12. How does a web browser use stacks for back/forward navigation?
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When you visit a page, it is pushed onto a back stack. Clicking back pops it and pushes the current page onto a forward stack. Forward reverses this.
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