What are circular queues and how do they work?

What are circular queues and how do they work?

Circular queues are a data structure that uses a fixed-size array in a circular manner. When the end of the array is reached, it wraps around to the beginning.

What are the advantages of using circular queues over linear queues?

Circular queues utilize space more efficiently, as they can reuse empty slots created by dequeued elements, preventing overflow.

Can you give me an example of how to implement a circular queue in Python?

Sure! Here's a simple implementation using a list:

class CircularQueue:
    def __init__(self, size):
        self.size = size
        self.queue = [None] * size
        self.front = self.rear = -1

    def enqueue(self, value):
        if (self.rear + 1) % self.size == self.front:
            print('Queue is full')
        elif self.front == -1:
            self.front = self.rear = 0
            self.queue[self.rear] = value
        else:
            self.rear = (self.rear + 1) % self.size
            self.queue[self.rear] = value

    def dequeue(self):
        if self.front == -1:
            print('Queue is empty')
        elif self.front == self.rear:
            temp = self.queue[self.front]
            self.front = self.rear = -1
            return temp
        else:
            temp = self.queue[self.front]
            self.front = (self.front + 1) % self.size
            return temp

What are some real-world applications of circular queues?

Circular queues are used in various applications like CPU scheduling, buffering, and managing resources in operating systems.