Stacks in Data Structures

A stack is a special type of data structure in which data is stored in a specific order. The characteristic of a stack is that it follows the "LIFO" (Last In, First Out) principle, meaning the data that is inserted last will be removed first. It can be understood as a stack of plates, where you can only add or remove plates from the top.

A stack mainly has two operations:

Push: This operation is used to insert a new element into the stack. Whenever a new element is added to the stack, it goes to the top.

Pop: This operation is used to remove the top element from the stack.

LIFO principle, used for memory management in programs (like the function call stack), and simple to implement.

Function calls, parsing expressions in programming languages, and backtracking (like in mazes or puzzles).

Simplicity and ease of implementation, follows the LIFO principle which is necessary for solving many problems, useful for function call tracking and backtracking, and aids in expression evaluation.

Limited size (can lead to stack overflow), lack of random access (you can only access the top element), rigid data management, and risk of stack underflow (popping from an empty stack).