From: Thufir <hawat.thufir@...>
Date: 2007-10-23T15:07:57+09:00
Subject: Re: pop/push, shift/unshift

On Tue, 23 Oct 2007 12:53:02 +0900, Simon Schuster wrote:

> just trying to get a gut-grip on these four array processes, and I'm
> pushing and popping and shifting and unshifting left and right (and back
> and forth?) and it's taking a surprising amount of time to "grok" them.
> does anyone think this is a naming convention that could benefit with
> some change, or am I just being strange?

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stack_%28data_structure%29#Operations>


The way I think of a stack is as, literally, a stack of plates.  A 
cafeteria with a stack of plates where the stack is placed on a spring so 
that when one plate is picked up (popped), the one below pops up and can 
be accessed.  The other plates aren't accessible because they're in the, 
err, cabinet.  When a plate is put on the stack, of course, it pushes 
down the other plates.


-Thufir