adamhooper / Js Priority Queue
Programming Languages
Priority Queue
A priority queue is a data structure with these operations:
| Operation | Syntax (js-priority-queue) | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Create | var queue = new PriorityQueue(); |
Creates a priority queue |
| Queue | queue.queue(value); |
Inserts a new value in the queue |
| Length | var length = queue.length; |
Returns the number of elements in the queue |
| Peek | var firstItem = queue.peek(); |
Returns the smallest item in the queue and leaves the queue unchanged |
| Dequeue | var firstItem = queue.dequeue(); |
Returns the smallest item in the queue and removes it from the queue |
| Clear | queue.clear(); |
Removes all values from the queue |
You cannot access the data in any other way: you must dequeue or peek.
Why use this library? Two reasons:
- It's easier to use than an Array, and it's clearer.
- It can make your code execute more quickly.
Installing
You can npm install js-priority-queue or bower install js-priority-queue.
Alternatively, just download priority-queue.js from this directory.
Include it through RequireJS or Browserify. Or, to pollute your global scope, insert this in your HTML:
<script src="priority-queue.js"></script>
Then write code like this:
var queue = new PriorityQueue({ comparator: function(a, b) { return b - a; }});
queue.queue(5);
queue.queue(3);
queue.queue(2);
var lowest = queue.dequeue(); // returns 5
Options
How exactly will these elements be ordered? Let's use the comparator option.
This is the argument we would pass to
Array.prototype.sort:
var compareNumbers = function(a, b) { return a - b; };
var queue = new PriorityQueue({ comparator: compareNumbers });
You can also pass initial values, in any order. With lots of values, it's faster to load them all at once than one at a time.
var queue = new PriorityQueue({ initialValues: [ 1, 2, 3 ] })
Strategies
We can implement this with a regular Array. We'll keep it sorted inversely,
so queue.dequeue() maps to array.pop(). Each queue() is a splice(),
which rewrites the entire array. This is fast for tiny queues.
An alternative is a Binary Heap: it modifies just a few array elements when queueing (though each modification has a cost).
Finally, we can use a B-Heap. It's like a binary heap, except its modifications often occur close together in memory. Unfortunately, calculating where in memory the modifications should occur is slower. (It costs a function call instead of a bit-shift.) So while B-heap is fast in theory, it's slow in practice.
Create the queues like this:
var queue = new PriorityQueue({ strategy: PriorityQueue.ArrayStrategy }); // Array
var queue = new PriorityQueue({ strategy: PriorityQueue.BinaryHeapStrategy }); // Default
var queue = new PriorityQueue({ strategy: PriorityQueue.BHeapStrategy }); // Slower
You'll see running times like this:
| Operation | Array | Binary heap | B-Heap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Create | O(n lg n) | O(n) | O(n) |
| Queue | O(n) (often slow) | O(lg n) (fast) | O(lg n) |
| Peek | O(1) | O(1) | O(1) |
| Dequeue | O(1) (fast) | O(lg n) | O(lg n) |
According to JsPerf, the
fastest strategy for most cases is BinaryHeapStrategy. Use ArrayStrategy
in edge cases, after performance-testing your specific data. Don't use
BHeapStrategy: it's a lesson that a miracle in C can flop in JavaScript.
The default strategy is BinaryHeapStrategy.
Contributing
- Fork this repository
- Run
npm install - Write the behavior you expect in
spec-coffee/ - Edit files in
coffee/untilgulp testsays you're done - Run
gulpto updatepriority-queue.jsandpriority-queue.min.js - Submit a pull request
License
I, Adam Hooper, the sole author of this project, waive all my rights to it and release it under the Public Domain. Do with it what you will.