JS queues

readme.md

This is a simple JS-based queue system.

// create a new queue
var queue = new Queue();

// enqueue an item
queue.enqueue('item');

// dequeue an item
var item = queue.dequeue();

// get the item at the front of the queue but do not dequeue it.
var item = queue.peek();

// determine the number of items in the queue
var length = queue.getLength();

// determine whether the queue is empty
var isEmpty = queue.isEmpty();

Usage:

//	loop through the queue and get each item..
while( !queue.isEmpty() ){
	//	remove the item from the queue and process...
	var item = queue.dequeue();
	console.log( item );
}

queue.js

/* Creates a new queue. A queue is a first-in-first-out (FIFO) data structure -
 * items are added to the end of the queue and removed from the front.
 */
function Queue(){

  // initialise the queue and offset
  var queue  = [];
  var offset = 0;

  // Returns the length of the queue.
  this.getLength = function(){
    return (queue.length - offset);
  }

  // Returns true if the queue is empty, and false otherwise.
  this.isEmpty = function(){
    return (queue.length == 0);
  }

  /* Enqueues the specified item. The parameter is:
   *
   * item - the item to enqueue
   */
  this.enqueue = function(item){
    queue.push(item);
  }

  /* Dequeues an item and returns it. If the queue is empty, the value
   * 'undefined' is returned.
   */
  this.dequeue = function(){

    // if the queue is empty, return immediately
    if (queue.length == 0) return undefined;

    // store the item at the front of the queue
    var item = queue[offset];

    // increment the offset and remove the free space if necessary
    if (++ offset * 2 >= queue.length){
      queue  = queue.slice(offset);
      offset = 0;
    }

    // return the dequeued item
    return item;

  }

  /* Returns the item at the front of the queue (without dequeuing it). If the
   * queue is empty then undefined is returned.
   */
  this.peek = function(){
    return (queue.length > 0 ? queue[offset] : undefined);
  }

}