Queues

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 Introduction
• Queue is an important data structure which stores its elements in an ordered manner.
• We can explain the concept of queues using the following analogy:
People moving on an escalator. The people who got on the escalator first will be the first one to step out of it.
• A queue is a FIFO (First-In, First-Out) data structure in which the element that is inserted first is the first one to be
taken out.
• The elements in a queue are added at one end called the rear and removed from the other one end called the front.

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 Array Representation of Queues
• Queues can be easily represented using linear arrays.
• Every queue has front and rear variables that point to the position
from where deletions and insertions can be done, respectively.
• Consider the queue shown in figure
12 9 7 18 14 36

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

• Here, front = 0 and rear = 5.

• If we want to add one more value in the list say with value 45, then
rear would be incremented by 1 and the value would be stored at
the position pointed by rear.

12 9 7 18 14 36 45

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

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 Array Representation of Queues
• Now, front = 0 and rear = 6. Every time a new element has to be added, we will repeat the same procedure.

• Now, if we want to delete an element from the queue, then the value of front will be incremented. Deletions are

done from only this end of the queue.

9 7 18 14 36 45

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

• Now, front = 1 and rear = 6.

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 Array Representation of Queues
• Before inserting an element in the queue we must check for
overflow conditions.
• An overflow occurs when we try to insert an element into a queue
that is already full, i.e. when rear = MAX – 1, where MAX specifies
the maximum number of elements that the queue can hold.
• Similarly, before deleting an element from the queue, we must
check for underflow condition.
• An underflow occurs when we try to delete an element from a
queue that is already empty. If front = -1 and rear = -1, this means
there is no element in the queue.

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Algorithm for Insertion Operation

Algorithm to insert an element in a queue

Step 1: IF REAR=MAX-1, then;
Write OVERFLOW
Goto Step 4
[END OF IF]
Step 2: IF FRONT == -1 and REAR = -1, then
SET FRONT = REAR = 0
ELSE
SET REAR = REAR + 1
[END OF IF]
Step 3: SET QUEUE[REAR] = NUM
Step 4: Exit

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Algorithm for Deletion Operation

Algorithm to delete an element from a queue

Step 1: IF FRONT = -1 OR FRONT > REAR, then
Write UNDERFLOW
Goto Step 2
ELSE
SET VAL = QUEUE[FRONT]
SET FRONT = FRONT + 1

[END OF IF]
Step 2: Exit

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 Linked Representation of Queues
• In a linked queue, every element has two parts: one that stores data and the other that stores the
address of the next element.
• The START pointer of the linked list is used as FRONT.
• We will also use another pointer called REAR which will store the address of the last element in the
queue.
• All insertions will be done at the rear end and all the deletions will be done at the front end.
• If FRONT = REAR = NULL, then it indicates that the queue is empty.

1 7 3 4 2 6 5 X

FRONT REAR

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Inserting an Element in a Linked Queue

Algorithm to insert an element in a linked queue

Step 1: Allocate memory for the new node and name it as PTR
Step 2: SET PTR->DATA = VAL
Step 3: IF FRONT = NULL, then
SET FRONT = REAR = PTR
SET FRONT->NEXT = REAR->NEXT = NULL
ELSE
SET REAR->NEXT = PTR
SET REAR = PTR
SET REAR->NEXT = NULL
[END OF IF]
Step 4: END

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Deleting an Element from a Linked Queue

Algorithm to delete an element from a linked queue

Step 1: IF FRONT = NULL, then

Write “Underflow”
Go to Step 5
[END OF IF]
Step 2: SET PTR = FRONT
Step 3: FRONT = FRONT->NEXT
Step 4: FREE PTR
Step 5: END

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 Circular Queues
7 18 14 36 45 21 99 72

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

• We will explain the concept of circular queues using an example.

• In this queue, front = 2 and rear = 9.
• Now, if you want to insert a new element, it cannot be done
because the space is available only at the left of the queue.
• If rear = MAX – 1, then OVERFLOW condition exists.
• This is the major drawback of a linear queue. Even if space is
available, no insertions can be done once rear is equal to MAX – 1.
• This leads to wastage of space. In order to overcome this problem,
we use circular queues.
• In a circular queue, the first index comes right after the last index.
• A circular queue is full, only when front=0 and rear = Max – 1.
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 Inserting an Element in a Circular Queue
• For insertion we check for three conditions which are as follows:

 If front=0 and rear= MAX – 1, then the circular queue is full.

90 49 7 18 14 36 45 21 99 72
front=0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 rear = 9

 If rear != MAX – 1, then the rear will be incremented and value will
be inserted
90 49 7 18 14 36 45 21 99

front=0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 rear=
8 9

• If front!=0 and rear=MAX -1, then it means that the queue is

not full. So, set rear = 0 and insert the new element.
49 7 18 14 36 45 21 99 72

front=1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 rear= 9

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Algorithm to Insert an Element in a Circular Queue

Step 1: IF FRONT = 0 and Rear = MAX – 1, then

Write “OVERFLOW”
Goto Step 4
[END OF IF]
Step 2: IF FRONT = -1 and REAR = -1, then;
SET FRONT = REAR = 0
ELSE IF REAR = MAX – 1 and FRONT != 0
SET REAR = 0
ELSE
SET REAR = REAR + 1
[END OF IF]
Step 3: SET QUEUE[REAR] = VAL
Step 4: Exit

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 Deleting an Element from a Circular Queue
• To delete an element again we will check for three conditions:
 If front = -1, then it means there are no elements in the queue. So
an underflow condition will be reported.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9

 If the queue is not empty and after returning the value on front, if
front = rear, then it means now the queue has become empty and
so front and rear are set to -1.
Delete this element and set
81 rear = front = -1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
front=rear= 9
 If the queue is not empty and after returning the value on front, if front = MAX -1,
then front is set to 0.
72 63 9 18 27 39 81
0 1 2 3 4 rear= 5 6 7 8
front= 9

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Algorithm to Delete an Element from a Circular Queue

Step 1: IF FRONT = -1, then

Write “Underflow”
Goto Step 4
[END OF IF]
Step 2: SET VAL = QUEUE[FRONT]
Step 3: IF FRONT = REAR
SET FRONT = REAR = -1
ELSE
IF FRONT = MAX -1
SET FRONT = 0
ELSE
SET FRONT = FRONT + 1
[END OF IF]
[END OF IF]
Step 4: EXIT

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 Deques
• A deque is a list in which elements can be inserted or deleted at
either end.
• It is also known as a head-tail linked list because elements can be
added to or removed from the front (head) or back (tail).
• A deque can be implemented either using a circular array or a
circular doubly linked list.
• In a deque, two pointers are maintained, LEFT and RIGHT which
point to either end of the deque.
• The elements in a deque stretch from LEFT end to the RIGHT and
since it is circular, Dequeue[N-1] is followed by Dequeue[0].

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 Deques
• There are two variants of a double-ended queue:
 Input restricted deque: In this dequeue insertions can be done only
at one of the ends while deletions can be done from both the ends.
 Output restricted deque: In this dequeue deletions can be done only
at one of the ends while insertions can be done on both the ends.

29 37 45 54 63
0 1 2 LEFT = 3 4 5 6
RIGHT = 7 8 9

63 27 18
42

RIGHT = 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 LEFT = 7 8 9

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 Priority Queues
• A priority queue is a queue in which each element is assigned a priority.
• The priority of elements is used to determine the order in which these
elements will be processed.
• The general rule of processing elements of a priority queue can be given as:
 An element with higher priority is processed before an element with
lower priority
 Two elements with same priority are processed on a first come first
served (FCFS) basis
• Priority queues are widely used in operating systems to execute the highest
priority process first.
• In computer’s memory priority queues can be represented using arrays or
linked lists.

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 Linked Representation of Priority Queues

• When a priority queue is implemented using a linked list, then

every node of the list contains three parts: (1) the information or
data part, (ii) the priority number of the element, (iii) and
address of the next element.
• If we are using a sorted linked list, then element having higher
priority will precede the element with lower priority.

A 1 B 2 C 3 D 3 E 4 X

Priority queue after insertion of a new node

E
A 1 B 2 C 3 F 4 D 5 6 X

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 Array Representation of Priority Queues

• When arrays are used to implement a priority queue, then a

separate queue for each priority number is maintained.
• Each of these queues will be implemented using circular arrays
or circular queues. Every individual queue will have its own
FRONT and REAR pointers.
• We can use a two-dimensional array for this purpose where
each queue will be allocated same amount of space.
• Given the front and rear values of each queue, a two
dimensional matrix can be formed.
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Array Representation of Priority
Queues

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 Multiple Queues
• When implementing a queue using an array, the size of the array must be known in advance.
• If the queue is allocated less space, then frequent OVERFLOW conditions will be encountered.
• To deal with this problem, the code will have to be modified to reallocate more space for the
array, but this results in sheer wastage of memory. Thus, there lies a tradeoff between the
frequency of overflows and the space allocated.
• A better solution to deal with this problem is to have multiple queues or to have more than one
queue in the same array.
• One important point to note is that while queue A will grow from left to right, the queue B on
the same time will grow from right to left.

0 1 2 3 4 ………………………………. n-4 n-3 n-2 n-1

Queue A Queue B

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 Applications of Queues
• Queues are widely used as waiting lists for a single shared resource
like printer, disk, CPU.
• Queues are used in asynchronous transfer of data (where data is not
being transferred at the same rate between two processes) for eg.
pipes, file IO, sockets.
• Queues are used as buffers on MP3 players and portable CD players,
iPod playlist.
• Queues are used in Playlist for jukebox to add songs to the end, play
from the front of the list.
• Queues are used in OS for handling interrupts. When programming a
real-time system that can be interrupted, for ex, by a mouse click, it is
necessary to process the interrupts immediately before proceeding
with the current job. If the interrupts have to be handled in the order
of arrival, then a FIFO queue is the appropriate data structure
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