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Using a dynamic array, it is possible to implement a stack that can grow or shrink as much as needed. The size of the stack is simply the size of the dynamic array, which is a very efficient implementation of a stack since adding items to or removing items from the end of a dynamic array requires amortized O(1) time.
Many Unix-like systems as well as Microsoft Windows implement a function called alloca for dynamically allocating stack memory in a way similar to the heap-based malloc.A compiler typically translates it to inlined instructions manipulating the stack pointer, similar to how variable-length arrays are handled. [4]
Other authors disagree, arguing that a stack ADT is the same whether it is implemented with a linked list or an array, despite the difference in operation costs, and that an ADT specification should be independent of implementation.
The implementation of memory management depends greatly upon operating system and architecture. Some operating systems supply an allocator for malloc, while others supply functions to control certain regions of data. The same dynamic memory allocator is often used to implement both malloc and the operator new in C++. [20]
Static arrays have a size that is fixed when they are created and consequently do not allow elements to be inserted or removed. However, by allocating a new array and copying the contents of the old array to it, it is possible to effectively implement a dynamic version of an array; see dynamic array. If this operation is done infrequently ...
Array, a sequence of elements of the same type stored contiguously in memory; Record (also called a structure or struct), a collection of fields . Product type (also called a tuple), a record in which the fields are not named
The implementation of variables is important for any programming language, but for stack-oriented languages, it is of special concern, as there is only one way to interact with data. The way variables are implemented in stack-oriented languages such as PostScript usually involves a separate, specialized stack which holds dictionaries of key ...
The array size must be declared ahead of time, but some implementations simply double the declared array size when overflow occurs. Most modern languages with objects or pointers can implement or come with libraries for dynamic lists.