Course Name: Data
Structure
Course Code:
CS(EC)301
Module-III: Stack
Lecture: 9
- D R. I ND RA NAT H S A R KA R, PR OF E SSOR, D E PA RT M E N T OF
E L E C T RON I C S A N D C OM M U N I C AT I ON E N GI N E E RI N G , J I SC E , KA LYA N I
Content
1) What is Stack
2) Stack ADT
3) Basic Operations of Stack ADT
4) Stack top pointer
5) Algorithm of peek() function
6) Algorithm of isfull() function
7) Algorithm of isempty() function
8) Push Operation
9) Algorithm for PUSH Operation
10) Pop Operation
11) Algorithm for Pop Operation
What is Stack
A stack is an Abstract Data Type (ADT), commonly used in most programming languages. It is
named stack as it behaves like a real-world stack, for example – a deck of cards or a pile of
plates, etc.
Stack ADT
Stack ADT allows all data operations at
one end only. At any given time, we can
only access the top element of a stack.
This feature makes it LIFO data
structure. LIFO stands for Last-in-first-
out. Here, the element which is placed
(inserted or added) last, is accessed
first. In stack terminology, insertion
operation is called PUSH operation and
removal operation is called POP
operation.
Basic Operations of Stack ADT
A stack is used for the following two primary operations −
1. push() − Pushing (storing) an element on the stack.
2. pop() − Removing (accessing) an element from the stack.
To use a stack efficiently, we need to check the status of stack as well. For the same purpose, the
following functionality is added to stacks −
peek() − get the top data element of the stack, without removing it.
isFull() − check if stack is full.
isEmpty() − check if stack is empty.
Stack top pointer
At all times, we maintain a pointer to the last PUSHed data on the stack. As this pointer always
represents the top of the stack, hence named top. The top pointer provides top value of the
stack without actually removing it.
Algorithm of peek() function
1. begin procedure peek
2. return stack[top]
3. end procedure
int peek() {
return stack[top];
}
Algorithm of isfull() function
1. begin procedure isfull
2. if top equals to MAXSIZE
1. return true
bool isfull() {
3. else return false
if(top == MAXSIZE) return true;
1. endif
else
4. end procedure return false;
}
Algorithm of isempty() function
1. begin procedure isempty
2. if top less than 1 return true
3. else return false endif
4. end procedure
bool isempty() {
if(top == -1)
return true;
else
return false;
}
Push Operation
The process of putting a new data element onto stack is
known as a Push Operation. Push operation involves a series
of steps −
Step 1 − Checks if the stack is full.
Step 2 − If the stack is full, produces an error and exit.
Step 3 − If the stack is not full, increments top to point next
empty space.
Step 4 − Adds data element to the stack location, where top
is pointing.
Step 5 − Returns success.
Important: If the linked list is used to implement the stack,
then in step 3, we need to allocate space dynamically.
Algorithm for PUSH Operation
begin procedure push: stack, data
if stack is full
return null
endif
top ← top + 1
void push(int data) {
stack[top] ← data
if(!isFull()) {
end procedure
top = top + 1;
stack[top] = data;
}
else {
printf("Could not insert data, Stack is full.\n");
}
}
Pop Operation
Accessing the content while removing it from the stack, is known as a Pop Operation.
In an array implementation of pop() operation, the data element is not actually removed, instead
top is decremented to a lower position in the stack to point to the next value. But in linked-list
implementation, pop() actually removes data element and deallocates memory space.
A Pop operation may involve the following steps −
Step 1 − Checks if the stack is empty.
Step 2 − If the stack is empty, produces an error and
exit.
Step 3 − If the stack is not empty, accesses the data
element at which top is pointing.
Step 4 − Decreases the value of top by 1.
Step 5 − Returns success.
Algorithm for Pop Operation
begin procedure pop: stack
if stack is empty
return null int pop() {
endif
data ← stack[top] if(!isempty()) {
data = stack[top];
top ← top - 1 top = top - 1;
return data return data;
end procedure }
else {
printf("Could not retrieve data, Stack is empty.\n");
}
}
