Heaps
The (binary) heap data structure is an array object that we can view as a nearly complete binary tree. Heapsort uses heap data structure to manage its information. In this article, we present one of the most popular applications of a heap: as an efficient priority queue. [1] Usually, a priority queue has a contract with methods to insert an element into it, examine the head of the queue, and to remove the element at the head of the queue. Here’s our contract for the priority queue. Next, we have to implement this contract. Here’s how it looks. Now, we have the priority queue under our belt, we can go ahead and use it to solve real world problems. Even though it is much easier to come up with a slightly contrived example of using the priority queue, this time around, I thought of coming up with a more real example which showcases the real capabilities of our data structure. The beauty of this approach is that it pounds on the data structure so much and allows us to find any vulne...