What is a Circular Queue?
Data Structure > Queue Data Structure > Circular Queue
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Answer:
A circular queue is one in which the insertion of a new element is done at the very first location of the queue if the last location of the queue is full. Suppose if we have a Queue of n elements then after adding the element at the last index i.e. (n-1)th , as queue is starting with 0 index, the next element will be inserted at the very first location of the queue which was not possible in the simple linear queue. That's why linear queue leads to wastage of the memory, and this flaw of linear queue is overcome by circular queue. So, in all we can say that the circular queue is a queue in which first element come right after the last element, that means a circular queue has a starting point but no end point .
A circular queue is a type of queue data structure in which the last element of the queue is connected to the first element of the queue, forming a circular chain. In other words, it is a type of queue in which the elements are stored in a circular manner and can be accessed in a circular order.
A circular queue has two pointers called the front and rear pointers. The front pointer points to the first element of the queue, while the rear pointer points to the last element of the queue. When an element is added to the queue, it is added at the rear end, and when an element is removed from the queue, it is removed from the front end.
One of the key advantages of a circular queue is that it allows efficient use of memory. Unlike a regular queue, where empty spaces cannot be reused once they have been used, a circular queue allows empty spaces to be reused when the rear pointer wraps around to the front of the queue.
Circular queues are commonly used in computer operating systems for scheduling processes and in networking for buffering data packets. They can also be used in simulations, graphics, and other applications where a queue of items needs to be processed in a circular manner.
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