Stack

Generic LIFO stack with multiple backing implementations.

Stack is a generic last-in, first-out (LIFO) data structure. The most recently pushed element is the first to be popped. The library provides four implementations that share a common interface, each with different allocation strategies.

Installation

import "github.com/fgm/container/stack"

Interface

type Stack[E any] interface {
    Push(E)
    Pop() (e E, ok bool)
}

Method	Description
Push(e E)	Places an element on top of the stack.
Pop() (e E, ok bool)	Removes and returns the top element. If the stack is empty, returns the zero value of E and ok == false.

Constructors

All four constructors accept a sizeHint parameter and return container.Stack[E].

sizeHint · int · required

A non-binding hint for the initial capacity. Some implementations use it to pre-allocate storage; others ignore it. Pass 0 if you have no estimate.

NewSliceStack

s := stack.NewSliceStack[int](100)

Choosing an implementation

Constructor	Backing store	Notes
NewSliceStack	Go slice	Simplest. Good default choice. sizeHint pre-allocates the slice.
NewListStack	Singly-linked list	No pre-allocation; each element is a separate heap allocation.
NewListSyncPoolStack	Linked list + sync.Pool	Pre-heats a sync.Pool with sizeHint nodes to reduce GC pressure under high throughput.
NewListInternalPoolStack	Linked list + internal slice pool	Keeps a bounded pool of recycled nodes inside the struct — no sync.Pool overhead. Best when allocation patterns are predictable.

Optional Countable interface

Some implementations also satisfy container.Countable, which adds a Len() method. Always check for it via a type assertion rather than relying on a specific implementation.

if c, ok := s.(container.Countable); ok {
    fmt.Printf("elements in stack: %d\n", c.Len())
}

Len() is not part of the core Stack interface because not all implementations provide it. Always guard the call with a type assertion as shown above.

Example

package main

import (
    "fmt"

    "github.com/fgm/container"
    "github.com/fgm/container/stack"
)

type Frame int

func main() {
    const sizeHint = 100
    s := stack.NewSliceStack[Frame](sizeHint)

    s.Push(Frame(1))
    s.Push(Frame(2))
    s.Push(Frame(3))

    // Optionally check the length if the implementation supports it.
    if c, ok := s.(container.Countable); ok {
        fmt.Printf("elements in stack: %d\n", c.Len())
    }

    // Drain the stack — LIFO order.
    for {
        e, ok := s.Pop()
        if !ok {
            break
        }
        fmt.Printf("popped: %v\n", e)
    }

    // Pop on an empty stack returns the zero value and ok=false.
    e, ok := s.Pop()
    fmt.Printf("empty pop -> value: %v, ok: %t\n", e, ok)
}
// Output:
// elements in stack: 3
// popped: 3
// popped: 2
// popped: 1
// empty pop -> value: 0, ok: false

Stack is not concurrency-safe. Do not share a Stack across goroutines without external synchronization.