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What Is A Priority Queue

A priority queue is a specialized queue where elements are processed based on their priority rather than arrival order, allowing higher-priority elements to be handled first. It is commonly used in applications like operating system task scheduling and network packet scheduling. Key operations include insertion, deletion of the highest priority element, and peeking at the highest priority element without removal.

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7 views2 pages

What Is A Priority Queue

A priority queue is a specialized queue where elements are processed based on their priority rather than arrival order, allowing higher-priority elements to be handled first. It is commonly used in applications like operating system task scheduling and network packet scheduling. Key operations include insertion, deletion of the highest priority element, and peeking at the highest priority element without removal.

Uploaded by

Metilda Mervina
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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What is a Priority Queue?

• A priority queue is a special type of queue where each element is associated with a
priority.
• Higher-priority elements are processed first compared to lower-priority elements — even
if lower-priority elements arrived earlier.
• It does not strictly follow FIFO like a simple queue — the order depends on priority first,
and arrival order if priorities are the same.
Example:
Imagine an emergency room:
• A critical patient (high priority) is treated before someone with a small injury (low priority),
even if the small injury patient came first.
Applications:

• Priority queues are used in applications where certain tasks or data elements need
to be processed with higher priority
• Examples include operating system task scheduling and network packet scheduling
OPERATIONS:
• Insertion: Adds an element based on its priority using the heap property. Higher
priority elements are placed closer to the front.
heapq.heappush() puts it in the right spot based on priority.
• Deletion: Removes the element with the highest priority (usually at the root of the
heap).
heapq.heappop() removes the top-priority (lowest number) order.
• Peek: Returns the highest priority element without removing it from the queue.
heapq.heapify() / orders[0]
CODE:

Output:

Code Explanation Line-by-Line:

o Initialize an empty list (orders) to store pizza orders.


o Use heapq.heappush() to add orders as tuples: (priority, pizza type). Lower numbers
mean higher priority.

o Use a while loop to keep serving orders until the list is empty.
o In the loop, use heapq.heappop() to remove and return the pizza with the highest
priority (lowest number).

SUMMARY:

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