Introduction

Visualizing a Stack

A stack is very similar to a queue and many of the concepts that you learned about a queue can be applied on a stack. Unlike the queue with the FIFO logic, a stack is different in that uses the opposite logic, LIFO (Last In, First Out).

A common example to think about a stack is a stack of plates. Imagine 5 plates stacked on top of one another. If you add a sixth plate onto the top of the stack, your stack of plates is now a stack of 6. However, what if you wanted to remove a plate? Well, you wouldn’t reach for the bottom of the stack and take a plate; you would take a plate out from the top.

This Last In, First Out (LIFO) logic applies to stacks in Java as well.