
In a stack, the topmost element can be read. Push, pop and peek are the main operations performed on a stack while insert, delete and traversing are the main operations performed on a linked list. Thus, this is the main difference between stack and linked list. In contrast, a linked list is a linear collection of data elements whose order is not given by their location in memory. Difference Between Stack and Linked List DefinitionĪ stack is an abstract data type that serves as a collection of elements with two principal operations which are push and pop. One has to go through each node to one after the other to access a particular element. On the other hand, it is not possible to access a specific element at once. It is possible to allocate memory as required. Therefore, it is not necessary to allocate memory initially.

Thus, it forms a circular chain structure. Similar to a single linked list, the programmer can perform operations such as insertion, deletion and traverse on a double linked list.Ĭircular linked list – In these lists, the last node stores the address of the first node. The two references allow going forward and backwards through the elements in the list. These are the address of the next node and the address of the previous node. Inserting, deleting and traversing through the elements are some operations that can be performed on a single linked list.ĭouble linked list(Doubly linked list) – A node in this type of list stores data and two addresses. Single linked list – A node in this type of list stores the data and the address of the next node. Linked List is a data structure with a set of nodes arranged in a sequential manner. Moroever, it is not possible to insert elements when the stack is full. If there are no elements, the stack is empty. Furthermore, the peek operation helps to read the top element without eliminating it from the stack. The push operation allows storing an element at the top of the stack while the pop operation helps to remove the topmost element from the stack. It is also called Last In First Out (LIFO). The last inserted element is the first element to remove from the stack. In this mechanism, the first inserted element is the last element to remove from the stack. It works according to the “First In Last Out” (FIFO) mechanism. It is only possible to read a single element at a given time.

– Comparison of Key Differences Key TermsĬircular Linked List, Double Linked List, Linear Data Structures, Linked List, Single Linked List, StackĪ stack is a data structure similar to real-world stacks such as a pile of plates, books or a deck of cards. Stack and Linked List are two such linear data structures.


In other words, these data structure store data one after the other. Linear data structures store data in a sequential manner. Linear and nonlinear data structures are two types of data structures. Data structures are useful as they help to access data efficiently. The main difference between Stack and Linked List is that a Stack works according to the FIFO mechanism while a Linked List works by storing the data and the addresses of other nodes to refer to each other.Ī data structure is a way of storing data elements in computer memory.
