Unit 3 - Queues

March 3, 2025

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Queues

• Queue is an ordered collection of homogeneous data elements

• Items are inserted at one end (the rear) and deleted at the other end
(the front)
• A linear data structure
• First-in first-out (FIFO) list

• Insertion: ENQUEUE
• Deletion: DEQUEUE

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Queues..

• Elements in Queue are called ITEM

• Number of elements in a queue is length

Representation of Queues
• Using an array
• Using single linked list

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Representation using array

• 1D array Q[1, ..., N ]

• Two pointers FRONT and REAR to indicate two ends of the queue
• ENQUEUE: FRONT
• DEQUEUE: REAR

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Queues..

Three states of queue

• Queue is empty
• FRONT = 0
• REAR = 0
• Queue is full
•
• FRONT = 0
• REAR = N − 1
• Queue contains elements ≥ 1
• FRONT ≤ REAR
• Number of element = REAR − F RON T + 1

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ENQUEUE using Array

Algorithm ENQUEUE(ITEM)
Input: An element ITEM that has to be inserted
Output: The ITEM is at the REAR of the queue
1 If (REAR=N-1) then
1 Print “Queue is full”
2 Exit
2 Else
1 If( REAR=-1) and (FRONT=-1) //Queue is empty
1 FRONT = 0
2 EndIf
3 REAR=REAR+1
4 Q[REAR]=ITEM

3 EndIf
4 Stop

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DEQUEUE using Array

1 If (Front=-1) then
1 Print “ Queue is empty”
2 Exit
2 Else
1 ITEM=Q[FRONT] //Get the element
2 IF (FRONT=REAR) // When Queue contains single element
1 REAR=-1 // The queue becomes empty
2 FRONT = -1
3 Else
1 1. FRONT=FRONT+1
4 EndIf
3 EndIf
4 Stop

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Limitations of array implementation

• Problem of fixed size

• Memory wastage while resolving fixed size problem

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Limitations of array implementation

• Problem of fixed size

• Memory wastage while resolving fixed size problem

• Memory wastage due to deletion

of data-elements

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Representation using Linked List

• In a linked queue, each node consists of two fields, data field and
reference field
• Containing two pointers
1 Front
2 Rear
• Front: point to the head of the node
• Rear: point to the end of the list (last node).
• Enque operates upon the rear pointer
• Deque operates upon the front pointer

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Linked List Representation

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Linked List Representation

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Various Queue Structures

1 Circular Queue
2 Priority Queue
3 Dequeue

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Circular Queue

• A circular queue is the extended version of a regular queue, which

solve issue of non-usable empty space of regular queue (when
implementing using array).
• In a circular queue, the last node is connected to the first node
• We can insert an item at the first node of the queue when the last
node is full and the first node is free.
• It’s also called a ring buffer

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Circular Queue..

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• Each pop operation causes Front to move right by 1
• When Rear = n − 1 and Front > 0
• Number of elements is less than arraylength and there is space for
elements in the left end of array
• How to use this space?

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• Each pop operation causes Front to move right by 1
• When Rear = n − 1 and Front > 0
• Number of elements is less than arraylength and there is space for
elements in the left end of array
• How to use this space?
• Left shift all elements
• But increases the worse case time of push operation O(1) to O(n)

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Circular Queue..

• The worse case time of push and pop operation become O(1) if array
positions are arranged in circular way
• Mapping function:
location(i) = (location(front element) + i)% arraylength

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• Consider an array of length 5, used to implement a circular queue

• location(front) = 3
• The rear of the queue is at index 1

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Circular Queue..

The position for 2nd element (i = 1)

location(i) = (location(front) + i) % arrayLength
= (3 + 1) % 5
=4%5
=4

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Circular Queue..

cases of queue
• Circular Queue is empty
• FRONT = −1 (if index from 0)
• REAR = −1
• Queue is full
• (REAR + 1)% arrayLength = = FRONT

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Algorithm Enqueue(CQueue, ITEM)

Input: An element to be inserted in the circular queue

Output: The queue with ITEM added at the rear, if the queue is not full
1 If(front = -1), then
1 FRONT =0, REAR =0 //Queue is empty
2 CQ[REAR] = ITEM
2 Else
1 next = (REAR + 1)% arrayLength
2 If next 6= FRONT //If Queue is not full
1 REAR = next
2 CQ[REAR] = ITEM
3 Else
1 Print ”Queue is full”
2 EndIf
4 EndIf

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Algorithm DEqueue(CQueue, ITEM)

1 if (front == -1)
1 print ”Queue is empty”
2 Exit
2 Else
1 ITEM = CQueue[front] // Retrieve the element at the front
2 if (front == rear) // If the queue has only one element
• front = -1
• rear = -1
3 front = (front + 1) % arrayLength // Move front one position ahead,
circularly
4 EndIf

3 EndIf
4 Return ITEM

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Algorithm DEqueue(CQueue, ITEM)

1 if (front == -1)
1 print ”Queue is empty”
2 Exit
2 Else
1 ITEM = CQueue[front] // Retrieve the element at the front
2 if (front == rear) // If the queue has only one element
• front = -1
• rear = -1
3 front = (front + 1) % arrayLength // Move front one position ahead,
circularly
4 EndIf

3 EndIf
4 Return ITEM
Enqueue and dequeue operations in a circular queue have a time
complexity of O(1)

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Applications

• Resource Pool Management

• CPU Scheduling
• Buffering Data Streams
• Networking
• Audio/Video Playback
• Real-time Data Processing

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Deque (Double Ended Queue)

• Insertion and deletion can be made at either end of the queue

• Flexible: Inherits the properties of both queues and stacks
• No Fixed Direction: Elements can be enqueued or dequeued from
either end, providing more control over data flow.

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Operations on Deques

• InsertFront: Add an element at the front of the deque

• InsertLast: Add an element at the rear of the deque
• DeleteFront: Remove and return the front element of the deque
• DeleteLast: Remove and return the rear element of the deque

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Algorithm: Insert at Front

1 If the Deque is Full

1 (rear + 1) %N == front
2 Exit
2 Else
1 If the Deque is empty (front = -1)
1 front = 0, rear =0
2 DQ[front] = ITEM
2 If (front = 0) //If front is at the beginning of the array
1 front = N - 1
2 DQ[front] = ITEM
3 Else //If the deque already has elements and front is not at the
beginning
1 front = front-1
2 DQ[front] = ITEM

3 Exit

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Algorithm: DeleteLast
1 If (front = -1)
1 Print deque is empty”
2 Exit
2 Else
1 If (front =rear) // single element
1 ITEM = DQ(rear)
2 front = -1, rear = -1
2 else if (rear = 0) //Rear at the Beginning of the Array
1 ITEM = DQ(rear)
2 rear = N-1
3 Else
1 ITEM = DQ(rear) //If the deque has more than one element and rear
is not at the beginning
2 rear = rear -1
4 Endif
3 Endif
4 return ITEM
5 Exit
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InsertLast and DeleteF ront are same as in circular Queue

Time complexity: O(1)

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Priority Queue

• Each element is assigned with a Priority

• Element can be inserted or deleted at any position on the queue
• an element with high priority is served before an element with low
priority

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Characteristics of Priority Queues

• Priority: Elements are dequeued based on their priority rather than

their position in the queue
• Ordering: Elements with higher priority are dequeued before those
with lower priority
• Dynamic: Elements can be added at any time, and the priority queue
will reorganize itself to maintain the priority order

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Examples

• Traffic Management
• Operating System Processes
• Data compression
• Dijkstra’s Algorithm

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Stack Application: Recursion

Computing the factorial of a number

int factorial(int n) {
if (n ≤ 1) return 1; // Base case
return n ∗ f actorial(n − 1); // Recursive case
}

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Algorithm: Factorial Using a Stack

1: Populate the Stack

For i = n to 2
If S.top < SIZE - 1
S.top = S.top + 1
S.items[S.top] = i
Else
Print ”Stack Overflow”
Return -1
2: Initialize the result
3: Process the stack to calculate factorial
While S.top 6= -1
Integer element = S.items [S.top]
S.top = S.top - 1
result = result ∗ element
4: Return the result

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