What is a queue in TypeScript?
A queue is a linear data structure that follows the First-In-First-Out (FIFO) principle, where the first element added is the first one to be removed. It’s used in scenarios like task scheduling and breadth-first search.
A queue is a linear data structure that operates on the First-In-First-Out (FIFO) principle, meaning the first element added to the queue is the first one to be removed. Queues are commonly used in scenarios where tasks need to be processed in the order they arrive, such as task scheduling, handling requests in web servers, and breadth-first search (BFS) in graphs. A queue can be visualized as a line of people waiting at a checkout counter, where the person at the front is served first and new people join the line at the back. The two primary operations of a queue are enqueue
, which adds an element to the rear of the queue, and dequeue
, which removes an element from the front. In TypeScript, queues can be implemented using arrays or linked lists. For example, you can push
elements to the end of an array and shift
elements from the beginning to mimic queue behavior. Queues are also used in breadth-first search (BFS) algorithms, where nodes are explored level by level. Another common application of queues is in managing print jobs, where the first job submitted is the first to be printed. Understanding queues is essential for problems involving ordered task processing and scheduling in programming.