What is the etymology of push_back in C ++?

Question

What is the rationale for the name of the push_back method in C ++ std::vector ? For example, does the beginning of the stack exist ( push is the general operation of the stack)? Was there a pre-existing library that used these terms to add to the sequence?

Besides common terms, other APIs such as append and add , insert_end seem more internally self-consistent (although front and back exist elsewhere).

Answer 1

As you noted, push and pop are common names for stack operations. The reason for this, not just push and pop is that it can be compatible with other containers. std::vector only implements push_back and pop_back , but there is, for example, push_front and pop_front , for example, std::list . Having consistent names is useful when writing common functions.

Answer 2

I would suggest that it is because of these methods that make it easy to use std::vector as a stack --- if all you do is push_front(foo) and pop_front() (or the back equivalent), you have a stack .