push-down stack
- noun
- /ˈpʊʃˌdaʊn stæk/
- Specialized
:
pila de empuje
- When processing expressions, a push-down stack helps to organize temporary data in a last in, first out manner.
Examples
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The programmer used a push-down stack to manage the function calls efficiently.
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In many programming languages, a push-down stack allows data to be retrieved in the reverse order to how it was added.
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Perhaps new stacks could be added from the top, like a push-down stack, so that the current context is always on screen and doesn't.
Blog text (17)
Synonyms
15
6.8
A store of items where the last one added is removed first
A list where the last thing you put in comes out first
A storage where the last thing put in comes out first, like a pile of plates
A way to store items so the last one added is the first taken out
A stack in computing that stores items last in, first out
A data structure like a stack where the newest item is removed first
A pile where the last item put on is the first taken off
Surface Forms
Morphology
push-down + stack
The components 'push'+'down' together with 'stack' cue an action of adding/removing items to a pile, so a learner who knows the words can infer this is a kind of stack where you 'push' items. However, the precise technical LIFO behaviour and conventions (push/pop operations) are domain-specific and not fully predictable to a B1 learner without programming exposure, so the relation is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Push-down stack comes from the image of a neat pile of plates: you push a new plate onto the stack and it sits on top. That's why it means a list where the most recent item is taken off first, 'last in, first out'.