Priority Queue

• provides the functionality of the heap data structure.

• It implements the Queue interface.
• elements are retrieved in sorted order.
•  the head of the priority queue will be the smallest element. 
the elements of a priority queue may not be sorted. However, elements are always retrieved in
sorted order.

Creating PriorityQueue
import the java.util.PriorityQueue package.
Queue<Integer> numbers = new PriorityQueue<>();

Operations on PriorityQueue
1. Adding Elements:
 Queue<Integer> pq = new PriorityQueue<>();
for(int i=0;i<3;i++)
{
            pq.add(i);
}

2. Removing Elements: 

pq.remove(2);

System.out.println("After Remove - " + pq);

  
System.out.println("Poll Method - " + pq.poll());
  
System.out.println("Final PriorityQueue - " + pq);

3. Accessing the elements: 

 String element = pq.peek();

 System.out.println("Accessed Element: " + element);

4. Iterating the PriorityQueue:

 Iterator iterator = pq.iterator();

  
 while (iterator.hasNext()) {
   System.out.print(iterator.next() + " ");
 }

it uses a default natural ordering. In this case, it gave us the data back in the ascending
order.
5. Custom ordering using Comparator:
Custom ordering is possible with the help of a comparator.
 static class CustomIntegerComparator implements Comparator<Integer> {
@Override
public int compare(Integer o1, Integer o2) {
return o1 < o2 ? 1 : -1;
}
}

to add this comparator to the priority queue. 

public class Priority_Queue_Demo {

    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
PriorityQueue<Integer> PQ = new PriorityQueue<>(new CustomIntegerComparator());
PQ.add(11);
PQ.add(5);
PQ.add(-1);
PQ.add(12);
PQ.add(6);
System.out.println("Integers stored in reverse order of priority in a Priority Queue\n");
while (!PQ.isEmpty()) {
System.out.println(PQ.poll());
}
}

output of the above program:

12
11
6
5
-1

6. Custom ordering using Comparable interface:

import java.util.Objects;

import java.util.PriorityQueue;

class Employee implements Comparable<Employee> {

private String name;

private double salary;

public Employee(String name, double salary) {

this.name = name;

this.salary = salary;

public String getName() {

return name;

public void setName(String name) {

this.name = name;

public double getSalary() {

return salary;

public void setSalary(double salary) {

this.salary = salary;

@Override

public boolean equals(Object e) {

if (this == e) return true;

if (e == null || getClass() != e.getClass()) return false;

Employee employee = (Employee) e;

return Double.compare(employee.salary, salary) == 0 &&

Objects.equals(name, employee.name);

@Override

public int hashCode() {

return Objects.hash(name, salary);

}
 @Override

public String toString() {

return "Employee{" +

"name='" + name + '\'' +

", salary=" + salary +

'}';

// Compare two employee objects by their salary

@Override

public int compareTo(Employee employee) {

if(this.getSalary() > employee.getSalary()) {

return 1;

} else if (this.getSalary() < employee.getSalary()) {

return -1;

} else {

return 0;

public class PriorityQueueUserDefinedObjectExample {

public static void main(String[] args) {

// Create a PriorityQueue

PriorityQueue<Employee> employeePriorityQueue = new PriorityQueue<>();

// Add items to the Priority Queue

employeePriorityQueue.add(new Employee("Rajeev", 100000.00));

employeePriorityQueue.add(new Employee("Chris", 145000.00));

 employeePriorityQueue.add(new Employee("Andrea", 115000.00));

employeePriorityQueue.add(new Employee("Jack", 167000.00));

while (!employeePriorityQueue.isEmpty()) {

System.out.println(employeePriorityQueue.remove());

# Output
Employee{name='Rajeev', salary=100000.0}
Employee{name='Andrea', salary=115000.0}
Employee{name='Chris', salary=145000.0}
Employee{name='Jack', salary=167000.0}

Java Comparable and Comparator

Java Comparable
example of a Comparable interface that sorts the list elements on the basis of age.

import java.util.*;  
import java.io.*;  
class Student implements Comparable<Student>
{  
int rollno;  
String name;  
int age;  
Student(int rollno,String name,int age)
{  
this.rollno=rollno;  
this.name=name;  
this.age=age;  
}  
 public int compareTo(Student st)
{  
if(age==st.age)  
return 0;  
else if(age>st.age)  
return 1;  
else  
return -1;  
}  
}  
//Creating a test class to sort the elements  
public class TestSort3
{  
public static void main(String args[])
{  
ArrayList<Student> al=new ArrayList<Student>();  
al.add(new Student(101,"Vijay",23));  
al.add(new Student(106,"Ajay",27));  
al.add(new Student(105,"Jai",21));  
  
Collections.sort(al);  
for(Student st:al)
{  
System.out.println(st.rollno+" "+st.name+" "+st.age);  
}  
}  
}  

Java Comparator
Student.java
class Student
{  
int rollno;  
String name;  
int age;  
Student(int rollno,String name,int age)
 {  
this.rollno=rollno;  
this.name=name;  
this.age=age;  
}  
}  
AgeComparator.java
import java.util.*;  
class AgeComparator implements Comparator<Student>
{  
public int compare(Student s1,Student s2)
{  
if(s1.age==s2.age)  
return 0;  
else if(s1.age>s2.age)  
return 1;  
else  
return -1;  
}  
}  
NameComparator.java

import java.util.*;  
class NameComparator implements Comparator<Student>
{  
public int compare(Student s1,Student s2)
{  
return s1.name.compareTo(s2.name);  
}  
}  
TestComparator.java

import java.util.*;  
import java.io.*;  
class TestComparator{  
public static void main(String args[])
{  
//Creating a list of students  
 ArrayList<Student> al=new ArrayList<Student>();  
al.add(new Student(101,"Vijay",23));  
al.add(new Student(106,"Ajay",27));  
al.add(new Student(105,"Jai",21));  
  
System.out.println("Sorting by Name");  
//Using NameComparator to sort the elements  
Collections.sort(al,new NameComparator());  
//Traversing the elements of list  
for(Student st: al){  
System.out.println(st.rollno+" "+st.name+" "+st.age);  
}  
  
System.out.println("sorting by Age");  
//Using AgeComparator to sort the elements  
Collections.sort(al,new AgeComparator());  
//Travering the list again  
for(Student st: al){  
System.out.println(st.rollno+" "+st.name+" "+st.age);  
}  
  
}  
}  

Output:

Sorting by Name
106 Ajay 27
105 Jai 21
101 Vijay 23

Sorting by Age
105 Jai 21
101 Vijay 23
106 Ajay 27