A LIFO (Last In, First Out) data structure.
A LIFO (Last In, First Out) data structure.
Adding an element to a stack is referred to as "pushing", removing an element is referred to as "popping".
See: Wikipedia: Stack
Questions tagged [stack]
79 questions
102
votes
6 answers
Stack and Heap memory in Java
As I understand, in Java, stack memory holds primitives and method invocations and heap memory is used to store objects.
Suppose I have a class
class A {
int a ;
String b;
//getters and setters
}
Where will the primitive a in…
Vinoth Kumar C M
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56
votes
7 answers
Why does the call stack have a static maximum size?
Having worked with a few programming languages, I've always wondered why the thread stack has a predefined maximum size, instead of expanding automatically as required.
In comparison, certain very common high level structures (lists, maps, etc.)…
Lynn
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55
votes
4 answers
How much stack usage is too much?
Lately when I've been writing C or C++, I'll declare all my variables on the stack just because it's an option, unlike with Java.
However, I've heard that it's a bad idea to declare large things on the stack.
Why exactly is this the case? I…
Elliot Way
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41
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1 answer
Frame Pointer Explanation
In MIPS assembly, there is a register for the stack pointer, and another register for the frame pointer. What is the frame pointer and what is its purpose? How does it differ from the stack pointer?
qwaserdftyghuijkiii
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41
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3 answers
Why does the stack grow downward?
I'm assuming there's a history to it, but why does the stack grow downward?
It seems to me like buffer overflows would be a lot harder to exploit if the stack grew upward...
user541686
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36
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6 answers
What's the point of implementing a Stack using two queues?
I have the following homework question:
Implement the stack methods push(x) and pop() using two queues.
This seems odd to me because:
A Stack is a (LIFO) queue
I don't see why you would need two queues to implement it
I searched…
Carcigenicate
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33
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Why do programs use call stacks, if nested function calls can be inlined?
Why not have the compiler take a program like this:
function a(b) { return b^2 };
function c(b) { return a(b) + 5 };
and convert it into a program like this:
function c(b) { return b^2 + 5 };
thereby eliminating the computer's need to remember…
moonman239
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29
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6 answers
Why do we need a Heap if everything can be done much more efficiently on the Stack?
This is actually somewhat related to the question I asked yesterday about why both a Stack and a Heap are necessary in the applications we use today (and why we can't just go with a Heap instead of both, in order to have a simple & singular standard…
Dark Templar
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26
votes
4 answers
Understanding stack frame of function call in C/C++?
I am trying to understand how stack frames are built and which variables (params) are pushed to stack in what order? Some search results showed that the C/C++ compiler decides based on operations performed within a function. For example, if the…
Gana
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2 answers
How are the size of the stack and heap limited by the OS?
Note: if you need to consider a specific OS to be able to answer, please consider Linux.
Whenever I run a program, it will be given a virtual memory space to run in, with an area for its stack and one for its heap.
Question 1: do the stack and the…
Daniel Scocco
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22
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4 answers
Why is putting something on the stack called "push"?
According to http://dictionary.reference.com
push
verb (used with object)
to press upon or against (a thing) with force in order to move it away.
to move (something) in a specified way by exerting force; shove; drive: to push something aside; to…
doc
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Are the Stack and Heap hardware, OS, or language-specific concepts?
In languages such as C or Java we have the concepts of the Stack and the Heap.
Are these abstractions the particular language runtime/compiler creates over the plain-old RAM? Or are these concepts inherent to the OS?
In other words, do the Stack and…
Aviv Cohn
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18
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What is the purpose of red zone?
Red zone is a fixed size area in memory beyond the stack pointer that has not been "allocated". Compilers do generate assembly to access that area in simple leaf functions.
But I can't see any real advantages for red zone. Accessing memory beyond…
Alexander Dzyoba
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15
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When there's no TCO, when to worry about blowing the stack?
Every single time there's a discussion about a new programming language targetting the JVM, there are inevitably people saying things like:
"The JVM doesn't support tail-call optimization, so I predict lots of exploding stacks"
There are thousands…
Cedric Martin
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14
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Amortized Analysis? (Worst-case Performance Guarantees)
What is Amortized Analysis? And how can it help me achieve worst-case performance guarantees in my programs?
I was reading that the following techniques can help the programmer achieve Worst-case performance guarantees (i.e. in my own words:…
Anthony
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