Stacks and queues are fundamental data structures in computer science that allow for the organized storage and retrieval of data. They both represent collections of elements but differ in how those elements are accessed and removed.
A stack is a Last-In-First-Out (LIFO) data structure, meaning the last element added to the stack is the first one to be removed. It's like a stack of plates - you can only add or remove plates from the top. The main operations for a stack are "push" (adding an element to the top) and "pop" (removing the top element). Stacks are used in many applications, such as function call management, undo/redo functionality, and expression evaluation.
On the other hand, a queue is a First-In-First-Out (FIFO) data structure, where the first element added is the first one to be removed, like a line of people waiting for a service. The main operations for a queue are "enqueue" (adding an element to the back of the queue) and "dequeue" (removing the front element). Queues are essential for tasks that require processing elements in the order they arrived, such as handling print jobs, managing CPU task scheduling, and implementing breadth-first search in graphs.