STACK MASTER ROADMAP
TOPIC 1: Stack Fundamentals
What You Learn
LIFO principle
Push / Pop / Peek
Stack using array / list
Using stack for reversal
Matching pairs
🟢 Easy
20 – Valid Parentheses ⭐
155 – Min Stack
232 – Implement Queue using Stacks
225 – Implement Stack using Queues
🟡 Medium
1472 – Design Browser History
🟡 TOPIC 2: Parentheses & Bracket Problems
Very common in interviews
What You Learn
Matching brackets
Counting invalid parentheses
Stack for balance checking
🟢 Easy
20 – Valid Parentheses
🟡 Medium
921 – Minimum Add to Make Parentheses Valid
1249 – Minimum Remove to Make Valid Parentheses
1541 – Minimum Insertions to Balance a Parentheses String
🔴 Hard
32 – Longest Valid Parentheses ⭐
🟠 TOPIC 3: Monotonic Stack (Most Important
Pattern)
🔥 This is the MOST important stack pattern.
What You Learn
Next Greater Element
Previous Smaller Element
Increasing / Decreasing stack
O(n²) → O(n) optimization
🟢 Easy
496 – Next Greater Element I
🟡 Medium
503 – Next Greater Element II
739 – Daily Temperatures ⭐
901 – Online Stock Span
84 – Largest Rectangle in Histogram ⭐
907 – Sum of Subarray Minimums
🔴 Hard
42 – Trapping Rain Water ⭐
85 – Maximal Rectangle
🔵 TOPIC 4: Stack + String / Expression
Evaluation
What You Learn
Infix, postfix evaluation
Operator precedence
Expression parsing
🟡 Medium
150 – Evaluate Reverse Polish Notation
227 – Basic Calculator II
🔴 Hard
224 – Basic Calculator ⭐
772 – Basic Calculator III
🟣 TOPIC 5: Stack for Simulation & Traversal
What You Learn
Stack as recursion replacement
DFS simulation
Order tracking
🟢 Easy
144 – Binary Tree Preorder Traversal
🟡 Medium
94 – Binary Tree Inorder Traversal
145 – Binary Tree Postorder Traversal
🟤 TOPIC 6: Stack + Greedy Combination
What You Learn
Removing elements optimally
Building smallest/largest number
Lexicographical optimization
🟡 Medium
402 – Remove K Digits ⭐
316 – Remove Duplicate Letters
1081 – Smallest Subsequence of Distinct Characters
🔴 Hard
321 – Create Maximum Number
🔴 TOPIC 7: Advanced Stack Applications
What You Learn
Stack in dynamic programming problems
Histogram → matrix transformation
Combining prefix + stack
🔴 Hard
85 – Maximal Rectangle
42 – Trapping Rain Water
84 – Largest Rectangle in Histogram
MASTERY LEVEL PROBLEMS (FINAL BOSS
SET)
If student solves these confidently → STACK MASTER
84
42
85
32
224
402
739
KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR STACK
1)When to Think Stack?
Look for keywords:
"Next greater/smaller"
"Nearest element"
"Parentheses"
"Histogram"
"Rectangle area"
"Remove K digits"
"Evaluate expression"
Think stack immediately.
2) Monotonic Stack Pattern
For next greater:
while stack not empty and current > [Link]():
[Link]()
[Link](current)
This reduces O(n²) → O(n)
3) Increasing vs Decreasing Stack
Increasing stack → used for minimum
Decreasing stack → used for maximum
4) Parentheses Pattern
Push index or char.
Pop when matching found.
5) Histogram Pattern (Very Important)
Used in:
Largest Rectangle in Histogram
Maximal Rectangle
Trapping Rain Water
If you master this → you unlock many hard problems.
6) Interview Secret
Monotonic stack problems are HIGHLY asked in FAANG interviews.