Learning Stack data structure [Java] - Online Course

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Problem solving using Stacks

Updated on Sep, 2026

Programming, Software Engineering, Data Structures

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Stack stores elements of the same data type.

We can insert, and remove elements in the stack in the Last In First Out policy (LIFO)

Stack<Type> variable_name = new Stack<>();

Stack<Integer> stack = new Stack<>();

Methods used in Stack:

stack_name . push() - insert element into a stack

stack_name . peek() - checks the topmost element in the stack

stack_name . pop() - removes the topmost element in the stack

stack_name . size() - returns the number of elements in the stack

stack_name . empty() - returns true/false. if the stack is empty, it returns true. if the stack is not empty it returns false

stack_name . clear() - clears the stack

stack_name . contains(value) - returns true if the value we check is there in a stack or else it returns false stack_name remove(index) - removes the value in the given index

stack_name . search(value) - searches the value in the stack and returns us the index of the value if present.

We can go through the stack elements in two ways.

1. Popping the elements

We can pop the stack elements one by one and go through all the elements.

We can go through the stack by a for loop as below

for(String s : stack_name)

//Stack will be iterated from bottom to top direction in this way

How to identify if that problem can be solved using a stack

1. when we want to evaluate brackets, and expressions in a certain order we can use stacks.

2. When we want to use backspace characters in the keyboard or in any similar situations, we can use stacks

3. When we want to delete or remove the last elements we can use the stack.

4. When we want to backtrack to something and then again move forward direction multiple times we can use the stack.

5. We can use stack to find some peak elements (assuming the value plotted something like a graph) we can use stacks

Required to know basic Core Java

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I am a Senior Software Engineer in PayPal. I enjoy coding, especially solving problems on Leetcode. I want to share what I know by creating a course, and I'm excited to present my course on Data Structures and Algorithms in Java. I've put a lot of effort into making my courses easy to understand, explaining concepts in the simplest way I can.

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