Introduction article to the data structure. Stack concept and examples applied to the Javascript language.

Introduction

Data structures are a means of handling large amounts of data efficiently, Knowing its structure and composition gives us more effective tools to design our product in relation to certain problems. On this occasion we will perform a stacks introduction, reviewing its peculiarity and use.

Stack concept

Stacks are a dynamic data structure that allows elements to be stored and retrieved based on a structure LIFO (last in, first out). The given name comes from the analogy of a set of physical items stacked on top of each other, making it easy to grab an item from the top of the stack.

Stack implementation in Javascript

To implement a stack in Javascript we will rely on the repository https://github.com/trekhleb/javascript-algorithms that contains an excellent implementation, but we will simplify some methods and structures to be able to understand its operation. We will support everyone in object-oriented programming.

Stack class

class that represents a stack, this class will have the property itemsthat represents a set of elements to store (in this case, we will use an array of elements, but it can be any other). At startup, the itemsproperty will have no elements.

class Stack {
  constructor() {
    this.items = [];
  }
}

The next steps will be to add methods to the Stackclass that will help us perform the manipulation of elements in our stack.

Method to insert elements

To insert items into our stack, we’ll create the common method called a push. This method stacks elements.

push()

push(element) {
  this.items.push(element);
}

Element removal method

To remove items from our stack, we will create the common method called pop. This method unstacks elements.

pop()

pop() {
  return this.items.pop();
}

Element display method

Another of the most common operations of the stacks is the visualization of the element that is about to leave. That is the element that is on top. This method is called peek.

peek()

peek() {
  return this.items[this.items.length - 1];
}

Full code

Ending

In this article, we take a simple look at stacks, however, these methods should be enough to cover basic use cases. Of course, there are many ways to extend and refine our example. I recommend to continue exploring implementations and adapt them to your need.

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