std::priority_queue
Purpose and suitability
std::priority_queue is an adapter container built on top of a random-access container type, primarily std::vector. Its core strength revolves around the following:
- Always having the highest priority element at the top
- Ensuring efficient insertion and retrieval of the top element
It shines in the following scenarios:
- When priority-based access is required
- When insertions are random but access always targets the element of the highest importance
In scenarios where order is not a concern or insertion order matters more than access priority, std::priority_queue might not be the ideal choice.
Ideal use cases
The following are some of the ideal use cases for std::priority_queue:
- Job scheduling: Assigning jobs based on their urgency or priority
- Pathfinding algorithms: An example of such an algorithm is Dijkstra’s algorithm, where nodes with the shortest tentative distance are processed...
