Insertion in a Queue in C

July 1, 2022

Enqueue operation in C

How to insert an element in a Queue in C programming?

Insertion in a Queue in C is also known as enqueuing so to enqueue an element certain steps are followed which will be discussed in this article. Inserting an element in a queue is one the simplest operation that is performed on a queue which is FIFO – First in First out structure, i.e. the element added first (Enqueued) will go out of the queue first (Dequeued).

Learn more about Queue in C programming by clicking the button below:-

Queue in C

for inserting an element in a Queue in C

Steps for enqueuing in C

To insert an element in a queue that is for enqueuing we proceed using following algorithm:-

  1. Define the maximum size of queue and initialize front and rear as -1.
  2. In the main function we will initialize two variables that will store the data and the size of the queue.
  3. Accept the data that we want to enter in a queue using a for loop.
  4. After accepting the data use enqueue() function to insert the data in a queue.
  5. In this function return queue id full , if the value of rear is equal to max-1.
  6. Else increase the value of rear by 1.
  7. After this insert the data that we have accepted earlier.
  8. Now display the data of the queue using a disp() function.
  9. In this function if the value of front is equal to -1 then it means list is empty.
  10. Else initialize a for loop from front to rear and print the data that queue is holding.
Insertion in a queue in C

for insertion in a Queue in C

Algorithm for enqueuing in C

As we know that Queue is a FIFO type data structure so we will be using following algorithm for insertion of an element in a Queue :-

  • IF (REAR==MAX-1)
  • RETURN QUEUE FULL
  • ELSE
  • REAR+REAR+1
  • QUEUE[REAR]=DATA
  • IF(FRONT== -1)
  • FRONT = 0

for inserting an element in a queue in C (Enqueuing)

Run 
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdbool.h>

#define MAX 6

int intArray[MAX];
int front = 0;
int rear = -1;
int itemCount = 0;

int peek() {
   return intArray[front];
}

bool isEmpty() {
   return itemCount == 0;
}

bool isFull() {
   return itemCount == MAX;
}

int size() {
   return itemCount;
}  

void insert(int data) {

   if(!isFull()) {
	
      if(rear == MAX-1) {
         rear = -1;            
      }       

      intArray[++rear] = data;
      itemCount++;
   }
}

int removeData() {
   int data = intArray[front++];
	
   if(front == MAX) {
      front = 0;
   }
	
   itemCount--;
   return data;  
}

int main() {
   
   insert(3);
   insert(5);
   insert(9);
   insert(1);
   insert(12);
   insert(15);

   if(isFull()) {
      printf("Queue is full!\n");   
   }

   int num = removeData();
	
   printf("Element removed: %d\n",num);
   
   insert(16);
   insert(17);
   insert(18);

   printf("Element at front: %d\n",peek());

   printf("----------------------\n");
   printf("index : 5 4 3 2  1  0\n");
   printf("----------------------\n");
   printf("Queue:  ");
	
   while(!isEmpty()) {
      int n = removeData();           
      printf("%d ",n);
   }   
}


Queue is full!
Element removed: 3
Element at front: 5
----------------------
index : 5 4 3 2 1 0
----------------------
Queue: 5 9 1 12 15 16