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Queue Data Structure
A queue is a useful data structure in programming. It is similar to the ticket
queue outside a cinema hall, where the first person entering the queue is the
first person who gets the ticket.
Queue follows the First In First Out (FIFO) rule - the item that goes in first is
the item that comes out first.
FIFO Representation of Queue
In the above image, since 1 was kept in the queue before 2, it is the first to be
removed from the queue as well. It follows the FIFO rule.
In programming terms, pu!ing items in the queue is called enqueue, and
removing items from the queue is called dequeue.
We can implement the queue in any programming language like C, C++,
Java, Python or C#, but the specification is pre!y much the same.
Basic Operations of Queue
A queue is an object (an abstract data structure - ADT) that allows the
following operations:
Enqueue: Add an element to the end of the queue
Dequeue: Remove an element from the front of the queue
IsEmpty: Check if the queue is empty
IsFull: Check if the queue is full
Peek: Get the value of the front of the queue without removing it
Working of Queue
Queue operations work as follows:
two pointers FRONT and REAR
FRONT track the first element of the queue
REAR track the last element of the queue
initially, set value of FRONT and REAR to -1
Enqueue Operation
check if the queue is full
for the first element, set the value of FRONT to 0
increase the REAR index by 1
add the new element in the position pointed to by REAR
Dequeue Operation
check if the queue is empty
return the value pointed by FRONT
increase the FRONT index by 1
for the last element, reset the values of FRONT and REAR to -1
Enqueue and Dequeue Operations
Queue Implementations in Python, Java, C, and C++
We usually use arrays to implement queues in Java and C/++. In the case of
Python, we use lists.
Python Java C C++
# Queue implementation in Python
class Queue:
def __init__(self):
self.queue = []
# Add an element
def enqueue(self, item):
self.queue.append(item)
# Remove an element
def dequeue(self):
if len(self.queue) < 1:
return None
return self.queue.pop(0)
# Display the queue
def display(self):
print(self.queue)
def size(self):
return len(self.queue)
q = Queue()
q.enqueue(1)
q.enqueue(2)
q.enqueue(3)
Limitations of Queue
As you can see in the image below, a"er a bit of enqueuing and dequeuing,
the size of the queue has been reduced.
Limitation of a queue
And we can only add indexes 0 and 1 only when the queue is reset (when all
the elements have been dequeued).
A"er REAR reaches the last index, if we can store extra elements in the
empty spaces (0 and 1), we can make use of the empty spaces. This is
implemented by a modified queue called the circular queue (/data-
structures/circular-queue).
Complexity Analysis
The complexity of enqueue and dequeue operations in a queue using an
array is O(1) . If you use pop(N) in python code, then the complexity might
be O(n) depending on the position of the item to be popped.
Applications of Queue
CPU scheduling, Disk Scheduling
When data is transferred asynchronously between two processes.The
queue is used for synchronization. For example: IO Buffers, pipes, file IO,
etc
Handling of interrupts in real-time systems.
Call Center phone systems use Queues to hold people calling them in
order.
Recommended Readings
Types of Queue (/dsa/types-of-queue)
Circular Queue (/dsa/circular-queue)
Deque Data Structure (/dsa/deque)
Priority Queue (/dsa/priority-queue)
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