java/util/Queue.java

/*
 * Written by Doug Lea with assistance from members of JCP JSR-166
 * Expert Group and released to the public domain. Use, modify, and
 * redistribute this code in any way without acknowledgement.
 */

package java.util;

/**
 * A collection designed for holding elements prior to processing.
 * Besides basic {@link Collection} operations, queues provide
 * additional insertion, extraction, and inspection operations.
 *
 * <p>Queues typically, but do not necessarily, order elements in a
 * FIFO (first-in-first-out) manner.  Among the exceptions are
 * priority queues, which order elements according to a supplied
 * comparator, or the elements' natural ordering, and LIFO queues (or
 * stacks) which order the elements LIFO (last-in-first-out).
 * Whatever the ordering used, the <em>head</em> of the queue is that element
 * which would be removed by a call to {@link #remove() } or {@link #poll()}.
 * Every <tt>Queue</tt> implementation must specify its ordering guarantees.
 *
 * <p>The {@link #offer(E)} method adds an element if possible, otherwise
 * returning <tt>false</tt>.  This differs from the {@link
 * Collections#add(Object)} method, which throws an unchecked exception upon
 * failure. It is designed for use in collections in which failure to
 * add is a normal, rather than exceptional occurrence, for example,
 * in fixed-capacity (or &quot;bounded&quot;) queues.
 *
 * <p>The {@link #remove()} and {@link #poll()} methods remove and
 * return the head of the queue.
 * Exactly which element is removed from the queue is a
 * function of the queue's ordering policy, which differs from
 * implementation to implementation. The <tt>remove()</tt> and
 * <tt>poll()</tt> methods differ only in their behavior when the
 * queue is empty: the <tt>remove()</tt> method throws an exception,
 * while the <tt>poll()</tt> method returns <tt>null</tt>.
 *
 * <p>The {@link #element()} and {@link #peek()} methods return, but do
 * not remove, the head of the queue.
 *
 * <p>The <tt>Queue</tt> interface does not define the <i>blocking queue
 * methods</i>, which are common in concurrent programming.  These methods,
 * which wait for elements to appear or for space to become available, are
 * defined in the {@link java.util.concurrent.BlockingQueue} interface, which
 * extends this interface.
 *
 * <p><tt>Queue</tt> implementations generally do not allow insertion
 * of <tt>null</tt> elements, although some implementations, such as
 * {@link LinkedList}, do not prohibit insertion of <tt>null</tt>.
 * Even in the implementations that permit it, <tt>null</tt> should
 * not be inserted into a <tt>Queue</tt>, as <tt>null</tt> is also
 * used as a special return value by the <tt>poll</tt> method to
 * indicate that the queue contains no elements.
 *
 * <p>This interface is a member of the
 * <a href="{@docRoot}/../guide/collections/index.html">
 * Java Collections Framework</a>.
 *
 * @see Collection
 * @see LinkedList
 * @see PriorityQueue
 * @see java.util.concurrent.LinkedQueue
 * @see java.util.concurrent.BlockingQueue
 * @see java.util.concurrent.ArrayBlockingQueue
 * @see java.util.concurrent.LinkedBlockingQueue
 * @see java.util.concurrent.PriorityBlockingQueue
 * @since 1.5
 * @author Doug Lea
 */
public interface Queue<E> extends Collection<E> {

    /**
     * Add the specified element to this queue, if possible.
     *
     * @param o the element to add.
     * @return <tt>true</tt> if it was possible to add the element to
     * this queue, else <tt>false</tt>
     */
    boolean offer(E o);

    /**
     * Retrieve and remove the head of this queue, if it is available.
     *
     * @return the head of this queue, or <tt>null</tt> if this
     *         queue is empty.
     */
    E poll();

    /**
     * Retrieve and remove the head of this queue.
     * This method differs
     * from the <tt>poll</tt> method in that it throws an exception if this
     * queue is empty.
     *
     * @return the head of this queue.
     * @throws NoSuchElementException if this queue is empty.
     */
    E remove();

    /**
     * Retrieve, but do not remove, the head of this queue.
     * This method differs from the <tt>poll</tt>
     * method only in that this method does not remove the head element from
     * this queue.
     *
     * @return the head of this queue, or <tt>null</tt> if this queue is empty.
     */
    E peek();

    /**
     * Retrieve, but do not remove, the head of this queue.  This method
     * differs from the <tt>peek</tt> method only in that it throws an
     * exception if this queue is empty.
     *
     * @return the head of this queue.
     * @throws NoSuchElementException if this queue is empty.
     */
    E element();
}


Revision:	1.10
Committed:	Thu Jul 31 07:18:02 2003 UTC (20 years, 9 months ago) by dholmes
Branch:	MAIN
Changes since 1.9:	+9 -9 lines
Log Message:	Continued updates to explicit and inherited doc comments. Consistency over remove(null) Some inherited doc is still not right.
#	Content
1	/*
2	* Written by Doug Lea with assistance from members of JCP JSR-166
3	* Expert Group and released to the public domain. Use, modify, and
4	* redistribute this code in any way without acknowledgement.
5	*/
6
7	package java.util;
8
9	/**
10	* A collection designed for holding elements prior to processing.
11	* Besides basic {@link Collection} operations, queues provide
12	* additional insertion, extraction, and inspection operations.
13	*
14	* <p>Queues typically, but do not necessarily, order elements in a
15	* FIFO (first-in-first-out) manner. Among the exceptions are
16	* priority queues, which order elements according to a supplied
17	* comparator, or the elements' natural ordering, and LIFO queues (or
18	* stacks) which order the elements LIFO (last-in-first-out).
19	* Whatever the ordering used, the <em>head</em> of the queue is that element
20	* which would be removed by a call to {@link #remove() } or {@link #poll()}.
21	* Every <tt>Queue</tt> implementation must specify its ordering guarantees.
22	*
23	* <p>The {@link #offer(E)} method adds an element if possible, otherwise
24	* returning <tt>false</tt>. This differs from the {@link
25	* Collections#add(Object)} method, which throws an unchecked exception upon
26	* failure. It is designed for use in collections in which failure to
27	* add is a normal, rather than exceptional occurrence, for example,
28	* in fixed-capacity (or "bounded") queues.
29	*
30	* <p>The {@link #remove()} and {@link #poll()} methods remove and
31	* return the head of the queue.
32	* Exactly which element is removed from the queue is a
33	* function of the queue's ordering policy, which differs from
34	* implementation to implementation. The <tt>remove()</tt> and
35	* <tt>poll()</tt> methods differ only in their behavior when the
36	* queue is empty: the <tt>remove()</tt> method throws an exception,
37	* while the <tt>poll()</tt> method returns <tt>null</tt>.
38	*
39	* <p>The {@link #element()} and {@link #peek()} methods return, but do
40	* not remove, the head of the queue.
41	*
42	* <p>The <tt>Queue</tt> interface does not define the <i>blocking queue
43	* methods</i>, which are common in concurrent programming. These methods,
44	* which wait for elements to appear or for space to become available, are
45	* defined in the {@link java.util.concurrent.BlockingQueue} interface, which
46	* extends this interface.
47	*
48	* <p><tt>Queue</tt> implementations generally do not allow insertion
49	* of <tt>null</tt> elements, although some implementations, such as
50	* {@link LinkedList}, do not prohibit insertion of <tt>null</tt>.
51	* Even in the implementations that permit it, <tt>null</tt> should
52	* not be inserted into a <tt>Queue</tt>, as <tt>null</tt> is also
53	* used as a special return value by the <tt>poll</tt> method to
54	* indicate that the queue contains no elements.
55	*
56	* <p>This interface is a member of the
57	* <a href="{@docRoot}/../guide/collections/index.html">
58	* Java Collections Framework</a>.
59	*
60	* @see Collection
61	* @see LinkedList
62	* @see PriorityQueue
63	* @see java.util.concurrent.LinkedQueue
64	* @see java.util.concurrent.BlockingQueue
65	* @see java.util.concurrent.ArrayBlockingQueue
66	* @see java.util.concurrent.LinkedBlockingQueue
67	* @see java.util.concurrent.PriorityBlockingQueue
68	* @since 1.5
69	* @author Doug Lea
70	*/
71	public interface Queue<E> extends Collection<E> {
72
73	/**
74	* Add the specified element to this queue, if possible.
75	*
76	* @param o the element to add.
77	* @return <tt>true</tt> if it was possible to add the element to
78	* this queue, else <tt>false</tt>
79	*/
80	boolean offer(E o);
81
82	/**
83	* Retrieve and remove the head of this queue, if it is available.
84	*
85	* @return the head of this queue, or <tt>null</tt> if this
86	* queue is empty.
87	*/
88	E poll();
89
90	/**
91	* Retrieve and remove the head of this queue.
92	* This method differs
93	* from the <tt>poll</tt> method in that it throws an exception if this
94	* queue is empty.
95	*
96	* @return the head of this queue.
97	* @throws NoSuchElementException if this queue is empty.
98	*/
99	E remove();
100
101	/**
102	* Retrieve, but do not remove, the head of this queue.
103	* This method differs from the <tt>poll</tt>
104	* method only in that this method does not remove the head element from
105	* this queue.
106	*
107	* @return the head of this queue, or <tt>null</tt> if this queue is empty.
108	*/
109	E peek();
110
111	/**
112	* Retrieve, but do not remove, the head of this queue. This method
113	* differs from the <tt>peek</tt> method only in that it throws an
114	* exception if this queue is empty.
115	*
116	* @return the head of this queue.
117	* @throws NoSuchElementException if this queue is empty.
118	*/
119	E element();
120	}
121
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