CACrown ArchivesHistory · sources · collections
EN/FR
Search
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

Stack (abstract data type)

abstract data type

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 11, 2026
Entity authorityQ177929 ↗
Source-derived summary

In computer science, a stack is an abstract data type that serves as a collection of elements with two main operations:

Push, which adds an element to the collection, and

Pop, which removes the most recently added element.

Additionally, a peek operation can, without modifying the stack, return the value of the last element added (the item at the top of the stack). The name stack is an analogy to a set of physical items stacked one atop another, such as a stack of plates.

The order in which elements are added to or removed from a stack is described as last in, first out, referred to by the acronym LIFO. As with a stack of physical objects, this structure makes it easy to take an item off the top of the stack, but accessing a datum deeper in the stack typically requires removing multiple other items first.

Considered a sequential collection, a stack has one end which is the only position at which the push and pop operations may occur, the top of the stack, and is fixed at the other end, the bottom. A stack may be implemented as, for example, a singly linked list with a pointer to the top element.

A stack may be implemented to have a bounded capacity. If the stack is full and does not contain enough space to accept another element, the stack is in a state of stack overflow.

History

Stacks entered the computer science literature in 1946, when Alan Turing used the terms "bury" and "unbury" as a means of calling and returning from subroutines. Subroutines and a two-level stack had already been implemented in Konrad Zuse's Z4 in 1945.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Stack (abstract data type)” is abstract data type. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Stack, abstract and data, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1946, 1945—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Stack, abstract and data is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “abstract data type” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q177929. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1946 and 1945.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Stack (abstract data type)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Stack (abstract data type) primary sources, Stack (abstract data type) archive and Stack research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Stack (abstract data type)”?
  2. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Stack (abstract data type)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.