A Common-Sense Guide to Data Structures and Algorithms, Second Edition, 2nd Edition

The Importance of Constrained Data Structures

By definition, if a stack is just a constrained version of an array, that means an array can do anything a stack can do. If so, what advantage does a stack provide?

Constrained data structures like the stack (and the queue, which we’ll encounter shortly) are important for several reasons.

First, when we work with a constrained data structure, we can prevent potential bugs. The linting algorithm, for example, only works if we exclusively remove items from the top of the stack. If a programmer inadvertently writes code that removes items from the middle of the array, the algorithm will break down. By using a stack, we’re forced into only removing items from the top, as it’s impossible to get the stack ...