Differences between stacks and linked list

Differences between stacks and linked list

Hello!

• Linked list is simple and the most common data structure. This is used to collect a sequence of objects, implemented as nodes, where each object/node has a link to the next and previous nodes in the sequence. An advantage of this data structure is that elements/objects/nodes can be easily added or removed from the structure without needing to re-organize. 
• A stack is an abstract data structure.  Due to its three fundamental operation (Push, Pop, and Stack Top), it can only perform limited number of operations. Elements in this data structure can only be removed by following reversely the order on which they are added. 
• Linked list are also used to implement stack data structure. Efficiency between the two data structure depends on the operation to be performed, but, linked list will be associated to any other abstract data structures like stack since it is a fundamental data structure.

Differences between stacks and linked list

In programming, a list is a finite or fixed ordered series of data items called “elements.” The list is “ordered” because every element has their individual position or place in the list. The linked list you are saying is one of its two implementations: the array-based list and the linked list.

For the pros, array-based list offers no wasted space for every element while with linked list, it only need space for objects that are actually on the list. For the cons, array-based list should have a pre-determined size and can have wasted space due to empty slots on the list.

While with linked list, it has an overhead for links or an extra pointer that is added to every node. A stack is a LIFO list or (Last-In, First-Out). It is a list-like structure where elements can be removed or inserted from only one end (last-in, first-out). It is easier to implement and more efficient but less flexible than lists.

With stack, elements are pushed into the stack instead of getting inserted.