Monotonic Stack / Queue Ladder

This ladder is for learning when one linear scan plus one domination rule is enough, so you do not overbuild a heavier range-query structure.

Who This Is For

Use this ladder when:

• nearest greater / smaller logic still turns into nested loops
• every sliding-window max/min problem looks like a heap or multiset problem first
• you want a cleaner boundary between monotone scans and real online data structures

Warm-Up

• next greater / smaller
• previous greater / smaller

Core

• histogram-style boundary scans
• fixed-width window extrema
• proving the push once, pop once amortized bound

Exact Repo Route

• stack-side starter -> monotonic-stack-nearest-smaller.cpp
• queue-side starter -> monotonic-deque-min.cpp
• flagship in-lane rep -> Nearest Smaller Values
• queue-side compare rep -> Sliding Window Minimum
• stretch sibling -> histogram / rectangle boundary tasks such as Advertisement

Compare Points Inside The Repo

• Two Pointers
• Heaps And Ordered Sets
• Sliding Window
• Segment Tree

External Practice

• CSES Problem Set
• CP-Algorithms - Minimum stack / queue

Tutorial Link

• Monotonic Stack / Queue