5/18/2021 Queue Implementation in C++ – Techie Delight

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Queue Implementation in C++

A queue is a linear data structure that serves as a container of objects that are inserted and
removed according to the FIFO (First–In, First–Out) principle.

Queue has three main operations: enqueue , dequeue , and peek . We have already covered
these operations and C implementation of queue data structure using an array and linked list.
In this post, we will cover queue implementation in C++ using class and STL.

The following queue implementation in C++ covers the following operations:

Enqueue: Inserts a new element at the rear of the queue.

Dequeue: Removes the front element of the queue.
Peek: Returns the front element present in the queue without dequeuing it.
IsEmpty: Checks if the queue is empty.
IsFull: Checks if the queue is full.
Size: Returns the total number of elements present in the queue.

Queue Implementation using an array:

1 #include <iostream>
2 #include <cstdlib>
3 using namespace std;
4
5 // Define the default capacity of a queue
6 #define SIZE 10
7
8 // A class to store a queue
9 class queue
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12 int capacity; // maximum capacity of the queue

13 int front; // front points to the front element in the queue (if
14 any)
15 int rear; // rear points to the last element in the queue
16 int count; // current size of the queue
17
18 public:
19 queue(int size = SIZE); // constructor
20 ~queue(); // destructor
21
22 void dequeue();
23 void enqueue(int x);
24 int peek();
25 int size();
26 bool isEmpty();
27 bool isFull();
28 };
29
30 // Constructor to initialize a queue
31 queue::queue(int size)
32 {
33 arr = new int[size];
34 capacity = size;
35 front = 0;
36 rear = -1;
37 count = 0;
38 }
39
40 // Destructor to free memory allocated to the queue
41 queue::~queue() {
42 delete[] arr;
43 }
44
45 // Utility function to dequeue the front element
46 void queue::dequeue()
47 {
48 // check for queue underflow
49 if (isEmpty())
50 {
51 cout << "Underflow\nProgram Terminated\n";
52 exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
53 }
54
55 cout << "Removing " << arr[front] << endl;
56
57 front = (front + 1) % capacity;
58 count--;
59 }
60
61 // Utility function to add an item to the queue
62 void queue::enqueue(int item)
63 {
64 // check for queue overflow
65 if (isFull())
66 {
67 cout << "Overflow\nProgram Terminated\n";
68 exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
69 }
70
71
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73 rear = (rear + 1) % capacity;

74 arr[rear] = item;
75 count++;
76 }
77
78 // Utility function to return the front element of the queue
79 int queue::peek()
80 {
81 if (isEmpty())
82 {
83 cout << "Underflow\nProgram Terminated\n";
84 exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
85 }
86 return arr[front];
87 }
88
89 // Utility function to return the size of the queue
90 int queue::size() {
91 return count;
92 }
93
94 // Utility function to check if the queue is empty or not
95 bool queue::isEmpty() {
96 return (size() == 0);
97 }
98
99 // Utility function to check if the queue is full or not
100 bool queue::isFull() {
101 return (size() == capacity);
102 }
103
104 int main()
105 {
106 // create a queue of capacity 5
107 queue q(5);
108
109 q.enqueue(1);
110 q.enqueue(2);
111 q.enqueue(3);
112
113 cout << "The front element is " << q.peek() << endl;
114 q.dequeue();
115
116 q.enqueue(4);
117
118 cout << "The queue size is " << q.size() << endl;
119
120 q.dequeue();
121 q.dequeue();
122 q.dequeue();
123
124 if (q.isEmpty()) {
125 cout << "The queue is empty\n";
126 }
127 else {
128 cout << "The queue is not empty\n";
129 }
130
131 return 0;
}
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Download Run Code

Output:

Inserting 1
Inserting 2
Inserting 3
The front element is 1
Removing 1
Inserting 4
The queue size is 3
Removing 2
Removing 3
Removing 4
The queue is empty

The time complexity of all the above queue operations is O(1).

Using std::queue :

C++’s STL provides a std::queue template class which is restricted to only enqueue/dequeue
operations. It also provides std::list which has push_back and pop_front operations
with LIFO semantics. Java’s library contains Queue interface that specifies queue operations.

std::queue

1 #include <iostream>
2 #include <queue>
3 using namespace std;
4
5 // Queue implementation in C++ using `std::queue`
6 int main()
7 {
8 queue<string> q;
9
10 q.push("A"); // Insert `A` into the queue
11 q.push("B"); // Insert `B` into the queue
12 q.push("C"); // Insert `C` into the queue
13 q.push("D"); // Insert `D` into the queue
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15 // Returns the total number of elements present in the queue

16 cout << "The queue size is " << q.size() << endl;
17
18 // Prints the front of the queue (`A`)
19 cout << "The front element is " << q.front() << endl;
20
21 // Prints the rear of the queue (`D`)
22 cout << "The rear element is " << q.back() << endl;
23
24 q.pop(); // removing the front element (`A`)
25 q.pop(); // removing the next front element (`B`)
26
27 cout << "The queue size is " << q.size() << endl;
28
29 // check if the queue is empty
30 if (q.empty()) {
31 cout << "The queue is empty\n";
32 }
33 else {
34 cout << "The queue is not empty\n";
35 }
36
37 return 0;
38 }

Download Run Code

std::list

Output:

The queue size is 4

The front element is A
The rear element is D
The queue size is 2
The queue is not empty

Also See:

Queue Implementation in Java

Queue Implementation in Python

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