What is a Priority Queue? How is it different from a normal Queue?

Difficulty: 6/10

Heaps, Task Scheduling, Concurrency

Priority Queue

A Priority Queue removes elements according to priority rather than insertion time. A normal FIFO queue processes the oldest element first, while a priority queue processes the highest-priority or lowest-priority element first depending on its configuration.

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1
A normal queue follows FIFO.
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A priority queue orders elements by priority.
3
A binary heap is a common implementation.
4
Heap insertion and removal are typically O(log n).
5
Peeking at the highest-priority element is typically O(1).
6
Priority queues are used in scheduling, shortest-path algorithms, and event processing.

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0-2 years experience

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