Basic Operations in Stack Data Structure with Implementations
Last Updated : 03 Nov, 2024
In order to make manipulations in a stack, there are certain operations provided to us for Stack, which include:
- push() to insert an element into the stack
- pop() to remove an element from the stack
- top() Returns the top element of the stack.
- isEmpty() returns true if the stack is empty else false.
- size() returns the size of the stack.
In this post, we will see how to perform these operations on Stack.

Push Operation in Stack:
Push operation adds an item to the stack.
If the stack is full, then it is said to be an Overflow condition.
Below is a sample program to show Push operation in Stack.
C++ #include <bits/stdc++.h> using namespace std; int main() { stack<int> s; // creating a stack of integers s.push(1); // This pushes 1 to the stack top s.push(2); // This pushes 2 to the stack top s.push(3); // This pushes 3 to the stack top s.push(4); // This pushes 4 to the stack top s.push(5); // This pushes 5 to the stack top // printing the stack while (!s.empty()) { cout << s.top() << " "; s.pop(); } // The above loop prints "5 4 3 2 1" }
Java import java.util.ArrayDeque; public class StackExample { public static void main(String[] args) { ArrayDeque<Integer> s = new ArrayDeque<>(); s.push(1); // Pushing 1 to the top s.push(2); // Pushing 2 to the top s.push(3); // Pushing 3 to the top s.push(4); // Pushing 4 to the top s.push(5); // Pushing 5 to the top // Printing in reverse order while (!s.isEmpty()) { System.out.print(s.pop() + " "); } // The output will be "5 4 3 2 1" } }
Python # Python Code: stack = [] stack.append(1) # This pushes 1 to the stack top stack.append(2) # This pushes 2 to the stack top stack.append(3) # This pushes 3 to the stack top stack.append(4) # This pushes 4 to the stack top stack.append(5) # This pushes 5 to the stack top # printing the stack while stack: print(stack[-1], end=" ") stack.pop() # The above loop prints "5 4 3 2 1" # This code is contributed by Sakshi
C# using System; using System.Collections.Generic; class Program { static void Main() { Stack<int> s = new Stack<int>(); // Creating a stack // of integers s.Push(1); // Pushing 1 to the stack top s.Push(2); // Pushing 2 to the stack top s.Push(3); // Pushing 3 to the stack top s.Push(4); // Pushing 4 to the stack top s.Push(5); // Pushing 5 to the stack top // Printing the stack while (s.Count > 0) { Console.Write( s.Peek() + " "); // Peek() gets the top element // without removing it s.Pop(); // Pop() removes the top element } // The above loop prints "5 4 3 2 1" } }
JavaScript class Stack { constructor() { this.stack = []; } push(value) { this.stack.push(value); // Pushes the value to the stack top } top() { return this.stack[this.stack.length - 1]; // Returns the element at the top of the stack } pop() { return this.stack.pop(); // Removes and returns the top element of the stack } isEmpty() { return this.stack.length === 0; // Checks if the stack is empty } } function main() { const s = new Stack(); // Creating a stack s.push(1); // Pushing 1 to the stack top s.push(2); // Pushing 2 to the stack top s.push(3); // Pushing 3 to the stack top s.push(4); // Pushing 4 to the stack top s.push(5); // Pushing 5 to the stack top // Printing the stack while (!s.isEmpty()) { console.log(s.top() + " "); // Outputting the top element s.pop(); // Removing the top element } // The above loop prints "5 4 3 2 1" } main(); // Calling the main function
Pop Operation in Stack:
Pop operation is used to remove an item from the stack.
The items are popped in the reversed order in which they are pushed. If the stack is empty, then it is said to be an Underflow condition.
Below is a sample program to show Pop operation in Stack.
C++ #include <bits/stdc++.h> using namespace std; int main() { stack<int> s; // creating a stack of integers s.push(1); // This pushes 1 to the stack top s.push(2); // This pushes 2 to the stack top s.push(3); // This pushes 3 to the stack top s.push(4); // This pushes 4 to the stack top s.push(5); // This pushes 5 to the stack top // Now, let us remove elements from the stack using pop function while (!s.empty()) { cout << s.top() << " "; s.pop(); // removes the top element from the stack } }
Java import java.util.ArrayDeque; public class Main { public static void main(String[] args) { ArrayDeque<Integer> s = new ArrayDeque<>(); / s.push(1); // Pushing 1 to the stack top s.push(2); s.push(3); s.push(4); s.push(5); // Removing elements from the stack using pop function while (!s.isEmpty()) { System.out.print(s.peek() + " "); / s.pop(); } } }
Python stack = [] stack.append(1) # This pushes 1 to the stack top stack.append(2) # This pushes 2 to the stack top stack.append(3) # This pushes 3 to the stack top stack.append(4) # This pushes 4 to the stack top stack.append(5) # This pushes 5 to the stack top # Now, let us remove elements from the stack using pop function while stack: print(stack[-1], end=" ") stack.pop() # removes the top element from the stack
C# using System; using System.Collections.Generic; class Program { static void Main() { // Creating a stack of integers Stack<int> s = new Stack<int>(); // Pushing elements onto the stack s.Push(1); // This pushes 1 to the stack top s.Push(2); // This pushes 2 to the stack top s.Push(3); // This pushes 3 to the stack top s.Push(4); // This pushes 4 to the stack top s.Push(5); // This pushes 5 to the stack top // Removing elements from the stack using Pop function while (s.Count > 0) { Console.Write(s.Peek() + " "); // Displaying the top element without removing it s.Pop(); // Removes the top element from the stack } } }
JavaScript // Creating a stack let stack = []; // Pushing elements to the stack stack.push(1); // This pushes 1 to the stack top stack.push(2); // This pushes 2 to the stack top stack.push(3); // This pushes 3 to the stack top stack.push(4); // This pushes 4 to the stack top stack.push(5); // This pushes 5 to the stack top // Removing elements from the stack using pop function while (stack.length > 0) { console.log(stack[stack.length - 1]); // Print the top element stack.pop(); // Removes the top element from the stack }
Top Operation in Stack:
Top operation is used to return the top element of the stack.
Below is a sample program to show Pop operation in Stack.
C++ #include <bits/stdc++.h> using namespace std; int topElement(stack<int>& s) { return s.top(); } int main() { stack<int> s; // creating a stack of integers s.push(1); // This pushes 1 to the stack top cout << topElement(s) << endl; // Prints 1 since 1 is present at the // stack top s.push(2); // This pushes 2 to the stack top cout << topElement(s) << endl; // Prints 2 since 2 is present at the // stack top s.push(3); // This pushes 3 to the stack top cout << topElement(s) << endl; // Prints 3 since 3 is present at the // stack top }
Java import java.util.ArrayDeque; public class StackExample { public static void main(String[] args) { ArrayDeque<Integer> s = new ArrayDeque<>(); // Pushing 1 to the stack top s.push(1); System.out.println(s.peek()); // Prints 1 // Pushing 2 to the stack top s.push(2); System.out.println(s.peek()); // Prints 2 // Pushing 3 to the stack top s.push(3); System.out.println(s.peek()); // Prints 3 } }
Python # Python code: def topElement(s): return s[-1] s = [] # creating a stack of integers s.append(1) # This pushes 1 to the stack top print(topElement(s)) # Prints 1 since 1 is present at the stack top s.append(2) # This pushes 2 to the stack top print(topElement(s)) # Prints 2 since 2 is present at the stack top s.append(3) # This pushes 3 to the stack top print(topElement(s)) # Prints 3 since 3 is present at the stack top # This code is contributed by Sakshi
C# using System; using System.Collections.Generic; class Program { static int TopElement(Stack<int> s) { return s.Peek(); } static void Main() { Stack<int> s = new Stack<int>(); // creating a stack of integers s.Push(1); // This pushes 1 to the stack top Console.WriteLine(TopElement(s)); // Prints 1 since 1 is present at the stack top s.Push(2); // This pushes 2 to the stack top Console.WriteLine(TopElement(s)); // Prints 2 since 2 is present at the stack top s.Push(3); // This pushes 3 to the stack top Console.WriteLine(TopElement(s)); // Prints 3 since 3 is present at the stack top } }
JavaScript function topElement(s) { return s[s.length - 1]; } // Main function function main() { let s = []; // Creating an array to act as a stack s.push(1); // Pushing 1 to the stack console.log(topElement(s)); // Prints 1 since 1 is at the top of the stack s.push(2); // Pushing 2 to the stack console.log(topElement(s)); // Prints 2 since 2 is at the top of the stack s.push(3); // Pushing 3 to the stack console.log(topElement(s)); // Prints 3 since 3 is at the top of the stack } // Calling the main function main(); //THis code is contributed by Utkarsh
isEmpty Operation in Stack:
isEmpty operation is a boolean operation that is used to determine if the stack is empty or not.
This operation will return true if the stack is empty, else false.
Below is a sample program to show Pop operation in Stack.
C++ #include <bits/stdc++.h> using namespace std; bool isEmpty(stack<int>& s) { bool isStackEmpty = s.empty(); // checking whether stack is empty or // not and storing it into isStackEmpty // variable return isStackEmpty; // returning bool value stored in // isStackEmpty } int main() { stack<int> s; // The if - else conditional statements below prints // "Stack is empty." if (isEmpty(s)) { cout << "Stack is empty." << endl; } else { cout << "Stack is not empty." << endl; } s.push(1); // Inserting value 1 to the stack top // The if - else conditional statements below prints // "Stack is not empty." if (isEmpty(s)) { cout << "Stack is empty." << endl; } else { cout << "Stack is not empty." << endl; } }
Java import java.util.Stack; public class Main { public static boolean isEmpty(Stack<Integer> s) { return s.empty(); } public static void main(String[] args) { Stack<Integer> s = new Stack<>(); if (isEmpty(s)) { System.out.println("Stack is empty."); } else { System.out.println("Stack is not empty."); } s.push(1); if (isEmpty(s)) { System.out.println("Stack is empty."); } else { System.out.println("Stack is not empty."); } } }
Python # Python Code: def isEmpty(s): isStackEmpty = len(s) == 0 # checking whether stack is empty or # not and storing it into isStackEmpty variable return isStackEmpty # returning bool value stored in isStackEmpty s = [] # The if - else conditional statements below prints "Stack is empty." if isEmpty(s): print("Stack is empty.") else: print("Stack is not empty.") s.append(1) # Inserting value 1 to the stack top # The if - else conditional statements below prints "Stack is not empty." if isEmpty(s): print("Stack is empty.") else: print("Stack is not empty.") # This code is contributed by Sakshi
C# using System; using System.Collections.Generic; class Program { // Function to check if a stack is empty static bool IsEmpty(Stack<int> s) { return s.Count == 0; } static void Main() { Stack<int> s = new Stack<int>(); // Check if the stack is empty if (IsEmpty(s)) { Console.WriteLine("Stack is empty."); } else { Console.WriteLine("Stack is not empty."); } // Push a value (1) onto the stack s.Push(1); // Check if the stack is empty after pushing a value if (IsEmpty(s)) { Console.WriteLine("Stack is empty."); } else { Console.WriteLine("Stack is not empty."); } } }
JavaScript function isEmpty(stack) { // checking whether stack is empty or not return stack.length === 0; } function main() { const s = []; // The if - else conditional statements below prints "Stack is empty." if (isEmpty(s)) { console.log("Stack is empty."); } else { console.log("Stack is not empty."); } s.push(1); // Inserting value 1 to the stack top // The if - else conditional statements below prints "Stack is not empty." if (isEmpty(s)) { console.log("Stack is empty."); } else { console.log("Stack is not empty."); } } // Run the main function main(); //This code is contributed by Monu.
OutputStack is empty. Stack is not empty.
size() Operation in Stack:
Size operation in Stack is used to return the count of elements that are present inside the stack.
Below is a sample program to show Pop operation in Stack.
C++ #include <bits/stdc++.h> using namespace std; int main() { stack<int> s; // creating a stack of integers cout << s.size() << endl; // Prints 0 since the stack is empty s.push(1); // This pushes 1 to the stack top s.push(2); // This pushes 2 to the stack top cout << s.size() << endl; // Prints 2 since the stack // contains two elements s.push(3); // This pushes 3 to the stack top cout << s.size() << endl; // Prints 3 since the stack // contains three elements }
Java import java.util.ArrayDeque; public class Main { public static void main(String[] args) { ArrayDeque<Integer> s = new ArrayDeque<>(); System.out.println(s.size()); // Prints 0 since the stack is empty s.push(1); // Pushing 1 to the stack top s.push(2); // Pushing 2 to the stack top System.out.println(s.size()); // Prints 2 since the stack contains two elements s.push(3); // Pushing 3 to the stack top System.out.println(s.size()); // Prints 3 since the stack contains three elements } }
Python # PYthon Code: stack = [] # creating an empty list as a stack print(len(stack)) # Prints 0 since the stack is empty stack.append(1) # This appends 1 to the stack stack.append(2) # This appends 2 to the stack print(len(stack)) # Prints 2 since the stack contains two elements stack.append(3) # This appends 3 to the stack print(len(stack)) # Prints 3 since the stack contains three element # This code is contributed by Sakshi
C# using System; using System.Collections.Generic; public class Program { public static void Main(string[] args) { Stack<int> s = new Stack<int>(); // creating a stack of integers Console.WriteLine(s.Count); // Prints 0 since the stack is empty s.Push(1); // This pushes 1 to the stack top s.Push(2); // This pushes 2 to the stack top Console.WriteLine(s.Count); // Prints 2 since the stack contains two elements s.Push(3); // This pushes 3 to the stack top Console.WriteLine(s.Count); // Prints 3 since the stack contains three elements } } //This code is contribiuted by Kishan.
JavaScript let stack = []; // Creating an array to simulate a stack console.log(stack.length); // Prints 0 since the stack is empty stack.push(1); // This pushes 1 to the stack top stack.push(2); // This pushes 2 to the stack top console.log(stack.length); // Prints 2 since the stack contains two elements stack.push(3); // This pushes 3 to the stack top console.log(stack.length); // Prints 3 since the stack contains three elements //This code is contributed by Aman.
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