Stack Class

Definition

Represents a simple last-in-first-out (LIFO) non-generic collection of objects.

[System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComVisible(true)]
public class Stack : ICloneable, System.Collections.ICollection
Inheritance
Stack
Attributes
Implements

Inherited Members

System.Object

Examples

The following example shows how to create and add values to a Stack and how to display its values.

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Collections;
void PrintValues( IEnumerable^ myCollection );
int main()
{
   
   // Creates and initializes a new Stack.
   Stack^ myStack = gcnew Stack;
   myStack->Push( "Hello" );
   myStack->Push( "World" );
   myStack->Push( "!" );
   
   // Displays the properties and values of the Stack.
   Console::WriteLine( "myStack" );
   Console::WriteLine( "\tCount:    {0}", myStack->Count );
   Console::Write( "\tValues:" );
   PrintValues( myStack );
}

void PrintValues( IEnumerable^ myCollection )
{
   IEnumerator^ myEnum = myCollection->GetEnumerator();
   while ( myEnum->MoveNext() )
   {
      Object^ obj = safe_cast<Object^>(myEnum->Current);
      Console::Write( "    {0}", obj );
   }

   Console::WriteLine();
}

/* 
 This code produces the following output.
 
 myStack
     Count:    3
     Values:    !    World    Hello
 */
using System;
using System.Collections;
public class SamplesStack  {

   public static void Main()  {

      // Creates and initializes a new Stack.
      Stack myStack = new Stack();
      myStack.Push("Hello");
      myStack.Push("World");
      myStack.Push("!");

      // Displays the properties and values of the Stack.
      Console.WriteLine( "myStack" );
      Console.WriteLine( "\tCount:    {0}", myStack.Count );
      Console.Write( "\tValues:" );
      PrintValues( myStack );
   }

   public static void PrintValues( IEnumerable myCollection )  {
      foreach ( Object obj in myCollection )
         Console.Write( "    {0}", obj );
      Console.WriteLine();
   }

}


/* 
This code produces the following output.

myStack
    Count:    3
    Values:    !    World    Hello
*/ 

Imports System
Imports System.Collections
Imports Microsoft.VisualBasic

Public Class SamplesStack    
    
    Public Shared Sub Main()
    
        ' Creates and initializes a new Stack.
        Dim myStack As New Stack()
        myStack.Push("Hello")
        myStack.Push("World")
        myStack.Push("!")
        
        ' Displays the properties and values of the Stack.
        Console.WriteLine("myStack")
        Console.WriteLine(ControlChars.Tab & "Count:    {0}", myStack.Count)
        Console.Write(ControlChars.Tab & "Values:")
        PrintValues(myStack)
    End Sub
    
    Public Shared Sub PrintValues(myCollection As IEnumerable)
        Dim obj As [Object]
        For Each obj In  myCollection
            Console.Write("    {0}", obj)
        Next obj
        Console.WriteLine()
    End Sub 'PrintValues

End Class

' This code produces the following output.
'
' myStack
'     Count:     3
'     Values:    !    World    Hello

Remarks

For the generic version of this collection, see Stack<T>.

The capacity of a Stack is the number of elements the Stack can hold. As elements are added to a Stack, the capacity is automatically increased as required through reallocation.

If Count is less than the capacity of the stack, Push is an O(1) operation. If the capacity needs to be increased to accommodate the new element, Push becomes an O(n) operation, where n is Count. Pop is an O(1) operation.

Stack accepts null as a valid value and allows duplicate elements.

Constructors

Stack()

Initializes a new instance of the Stack class that is empty and has the default initial capacity.

Stack(ICollection)

Initializes a new instance of the Stack class that contains elements copied from the specified collection and has the same initial capacity as the number of elements copied.

Stack(Int32)

Initializes a new instance of the Stack class that is empty and has the specified initial capacity or the default initial capacity, whichever is greater.

Properties

Count

Gets the number of elements contained in the Stack.

IsSynchronized

Gets a value indicating whether access to the Stack is synchronized (thread safe).

SyncRoot

Gets an object that can be used to synchronize access to the Stack.

Methods

Clear()

Removes all objects from the Stack.

Clone()

Creates a shallow copy of the Stack.

Contains(Object)

Determines whether an element is in the Stack.

CopyTo(Array, Int32)

Copies the Stack to an existing one-dimensional Array, starting at the specified array index.

GetEnumerator()

Returns an IEnumerator for the Stack.

Peek()

Returns the object at the top of the Stack without removing it.

Pop()

Removes and returns the object at the top of the Stack.

Push(Object)

Inserts an object at the top of the Stack.

Synchronized(Stack)

Returns a synchronized (thread safe) wrapper for the Stack.

ToArray()

Copies the Stack to a new array.

Extension Methods

Cast<TResult>(IEnumerable)
OfType<TResult>(IEnumerable)
AsParallel(IEnumerable)
AsQueryable(IEnumerable)

Thread Safety

Public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.

To guarantee the thread safety of the Stack, all operations must be done through the wrapper returned by the Synchronized(Stack) method.

Enumerating through a collection is intrinsically not a thread-safe procedure. Even when a collection is synchronized, other threads can still modify the collection, which causes the enumerator to throw an exception. To guarantee thread safety during enumeration, you can either lock the collection during the entire enumeration or catch the exceptions resulting from changes made by other threads.