{"id":1466,"date":"2003-12-04T09:16:18","date_gmt":"2003-12-04T16:16:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/8stars.org\/aa\/2003\/12\/04\/pop-the-stack\/"},"modified":"2003-12-04T09:16:18","modified_gmt":"2003-12-04T16:16:18","slug":"pop-the-stack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/8stars.org\/a\/2003\/12\/04\/pop-the-stack\/","title":{"rendered":"Pop the stack"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some programming languages have a concept called a “stack,” which is sort of like a stack of trays in a cafeteria. Each “tray” represents a value; you can “push” values onto the stack or “pop” them off. This is handy for a number of reasons, but the programmer has to keep careful track of what’s at the top of the stack–that is, how many times he’s pushed and popped. Push too much stuff on, and you’ve got a problem, because the computer only sets aside a certain amount of space for the stack.<\/p>\n

A few recent items leave me feeling as if we’ve been pushing the stack on reality too much and risk overloading it.<\/p>\n