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Pro Rity Queue

A priority queue is an abstract data type where each element has a priority, and elements with higher priority are removed before those with lower priority. There are two types of priority queues: ascending and descending, based on how priorities are assigned to elements. The document also explains how to represent a priority queue using lists and provides examples of operations like adding and polling elements.

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5 views4 pages

Pro Rity Queue

A priority queue is an abstract data type where each element has a priority, and elements with higher priority are removed before those with lower priority. There are two types of priority queues: ascending and descending, based on how priorities are assigned to elements. The document also explains how to represent a priority queue using lists and provides examples of operations like adding and polling elements.

Uploaded by

vaishnavbhavna17
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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What is a priority queue?

A priority queue is an abstract data type that behaves similarly to the normal queue except
that each element has some priority, i.e., the element with the highest priority would come
first in a priority queue. The priority of the elements in a priority queue will determine the
order in which elements are removed from the priority queue.

The priority queue supports only comparable elements, which means that the elements are
either arranged in an ascending or descending order.

For example, suppose we have some values like 1, 3, 4, 8, 14, 22 inserted in a priority queue
with an ordering imposed on the values is from least to the greatest. Therefore, the 1 number
would be having the highest priority while 22 will be having the lowest priority.

Characteristics of a Priority queue


A priority queue is an extension of a queue that contains the following characteristics:

o Every element in a priority queue has some priority associated with it.
o An element with the higher priority will be deleted before the deletion of the
lesser priority.
o If two elements in a priority queue have the same priority, they will be arranged
using the FIFO principle.

Let's understand the priority queue through an example.

We have a priority queue that contains the following values:

1, 3, 4, 8, 14, 22

All the values are arranged in ascending order. Now, we will observe how the priority queue
will look after performing the following operations:

o poll(): This function will remove the highest priority element from the priority
queue. In the above priority queue, the '1' element has the highest priority, so
it will be removed from the priority queue.
o add(2): This function will insert '2' element in a priority queue. As 2 is the
smallest element among all the numbers so it will obtain the highest priority.
o poll(): It will remove '2' element from the priority queue as it has the highest
priority queue.
o add(5): It will insert 5 element after 4 as 5 is larger than 4 and lesser than 8, so
it will obtain the third highest priority in a priority queue.
Types of Priority Queue
There are two types of priority queue:

o Ascending order priority queue: In ascending order priority queue, a lower


priority number is given as a higher priority in a priority. For example, we take
the numbers from 1 to 5 arranged in an ascending order like 1,2,3,4,5; therefore,
the smallest number, i.e., 1 is given as the highest priority in a priority queue.

o Descending order priority queue: In descending order priority queue, a


higher priority number is given as a higher priority in a priority. For example, we
take the numbers from 1 to 5 arranged in descending order like 5, 4, 3, 2, 1;
therefore, the largest number, i.e., 5 is given as the highest priority in a priority
queue.
Representation of priority queue
Now, we will see how to represent the priority queue through a one-way list.

We will create the priority queue by using the list given below in which INFO list
contains the data elements, PRN list contains the priority numbers of each data
element available in the INFO list, and LINK basically contains the address of the next
node.

Let's
create the priority queue step by step.

In the case of priority queue, lower priority number is considered the higher
priority, i.e., lower priority number = higher priority.

Step 1: In the list, lower priority number is 1, whose data value is 333, so it will be
inserted in the list as shown in the below diagram:

Step 2: After inserting 333, priority number 2 is having a higher priority, and data
values associated with this priority are 222 and 111. So, this data will be inserted based
on the FIFO principle; therefore 222 will be added first and then 111.

Step 3: After inserting the elements of priority 2, the next higher priority number is 4
and data elements associated with 4 priority numbers are 444, 555, 777. In this case,
elements would be inserted based on the FIFO principle; therefore, 444 will be added
first, then 555, and then 777.
Step 4: After inserting the elements of priority 4, the next higher priority number is 5,
and the value associated with priority 5 is 666, so it will be inserted at the end of the
queue.

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