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Exploring Queue Data Structure: FIFO Explained with Examples – Master the Queue Data Structure for Success

Queue Data Structure Operations:

A Queue Data Structure is a collection or abstract data type, representing a linear data structure. In this structure, the first element is inserted at one end called the REAR (also referred to as the tail), while the deletion of an existing element occurs at the other end known as the FRONT (also called the head). This unique characteristic defines a queue as a First In First Out (FIFO) data structure, meaning that the element inserted first will also be the first one to be removed.

To interact with a queue, there are two primary operations:

  1. Enqueue: This operation involves adding an element to the rear end of the queue.
  2. Dequeue: Removing an element from the front end of the queue.

The fundamental concept behind a queue data structure is its adherence to the FIFO principle. As elements are added to the queue, they line up in the order they were added. When it’s time to remove an element, the one at the front of the queue is the first to be taken out.

Queue Data Structure is a valuable tool in computer science and programming, especially when dealing with tasks that require managing elements in a specific order. Understanding its properties and operations, such as enqueue and dequeue, is essential for effective use in various applications.

The queue retrieval operations — poll, remove, peek, and element — access the element at the head of the queue. The head of the queue is the least element with respect to the specified ordering. If multiple elements are tied for least value, the head is one of those elements; ties are broken arbitrarily.

Queue Data Structure
Queue Data Structure


Queue follow First In First Out. In a FIFO data structure, the first element added to the queue will be the first one to be removed. This is equivalent to the requirement that once a new element is added, all elements that were added before have to be removed before the new element can be removed. A peek or front operation is entered and returning without dequeuing it(Removing it).

Implementation of Queue Data Structure:

Theoretically, one characteristic of a queue is that it does not have a specific capacity. Regardless of how many elements are already contained, a new element can always be added. It can also be empty, at which point removing an element will be impossible until a new element has been added again.

Fixed length arrays are limited in capacity, but it is not true that items need to be copied towards the head of the queue. The simple trick of turning the array into a closed circle and letting the head and tail drift around endlessly in that circle makes it unnecessary to ever move items stored in the array. If n is the size of the array, then computing indices modulo n will turn the array into a circle. This is still the conceptually simplest way to construct a queue in a high level language, but it does admittedly slow things down a little, because the array indices must be compared to zero and the array size, which is comparable to the time taken to check whether an array index is out of bounds, which some languages do, but this will certainly be the method of choice for a quick and dirty implementation, or for any high level language that does not have pointer syntax. The array size must be declared ahead of time, but some implementations simply double the declared array size when overflow occurs.

Other Data Structures in Article.

Queue Data Structure wiki.

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