What is the difference between a stack and a queue in TypeScript?
A stack follows LIFO (Last In, First Out), while a queue follows FIFO (First In, First Out). In TypeScript, you can implement stacks and queues using arrays or linked lists.
Stacks and queues are fundamental data structures that differ in how they handle the order of element insertion and removal. A stack follows the Last In, First Out (LIFO) principle, where the last element added is the first one to be removed. It can be compared to a stack of plates, where you always remove the top plate first. Common operations for stacks include push
(add to the top), pop
(remove from the top), and peek
(view the top element). In contrast, a queue follows the First In, First Out (FIFO) principle, where the first element added is the first one to be removed, similar to a line of people waiting for service. Queue operations include enqueue
(add to the back) and dequeue
(remove from the front). In TypeScript, both stacks and queues can be implemented using arrays, linked lists, or other data structures depending on the requirements. Stacks are commonly used in algorithms involving recursion, backtracking, and expression evaluation, while queues are used in breadth-first search (BFS), task scheduling, and buffering data. Understanding the differences and use cases of these data structures is essential for solving various algorithmic problems efficiently.