Applications of Queue

   Last Updated: 06 October, 2024       🕓  6 Mins Read

A queue is a fundamental data structure in computer science that follows the principle of First-In-First-Out (FIFO); that means the first element added is the first one to be removed from the queue. This unique feature makes queues useful in various applications across different domains.

A queue enables insert operations to be performed at one end called REAR or TAIL and delete operations to be performed at another end called FRONT or HEAD.

There are the following common applications of the queue data structure:

Applications of Queue Data Structure

Queues are a very popular data structure used across many real-world applications to efficiently handle operations and data.

• Task Scheduling: Queues can be used to schedule tasks according to their priority or in the order they were received.
• Resource Allocation: Resource Allocation: Queues are useful for managing and allocating resources such as printers and CPU processing time.
• Order Processing in E-commerce Business: In order to manage orders in e-commerce business, queues are used from order receiving to payment processing and distribution.
• Message Buffering: Communication systems can use queues to buffer messages.
• Traffic Management: In transportation systems, such as airport control systems or road networks, queues can be used to manage traffic flow.
• Batch Processing: Queues can be used to manage batch processing tasks like data analysis and image rendering, etc.
• Healthcare Systems: Queues are used in hospitals and clinics to keep patient appointments and treatments scheduled.
• Operating systems: Queues are commonly used in operating systems to manage processes and resources.
• Network protocols: Network protocols, such as TCP and UDP, use queues to control packets transferred across the network.
• Printer queues: Printing systems use queues to manage the order in which print jobs are processed.
• Web servers: Web servers use queues to manage requests from clients. All the client requests are added to the queue as they are received, and the server processes each request in the same order they were received.