Are Priority Queues really Queues?

Question

In Priority Queues, an element is inserted and deleted from the queue according to its priority, and because of which while writing the insertion and deletion code of elements for any priority queue; insertion and deletion are done according to the priority of the elements.

Suppose you have a queue with elements 1,5,6 and the priority of the elements is the value of the elements itself, and now one needs to insert an element of priority 3; then the elements is inserted at the second location in queue giving the new queue 1,3,5,6.

But a queue is defined as a data structure in which elements can be inserted at end and deleted at beginning but not in the middle, but in the above described case element is inserted at the second location (that is in the middle of queue). So if priority queues not obeying definition of queue so Are Priority Queues really Queues?

Kindly explain.

Answer 1

Priority queues are "queues" in one sense of the word, in that elements wait their turn. They are not a subtype of the Queue abstract data type.

Answer 2

A queue is characterized as an information structure in which components might be embedded at closure and erased at starting yet not in the center, however in the above portrayed case component is embedded at the second area (that is amidst queue).

Answer 3

Yes, a priority queue is still a queue in the sense that items are being served in the order in which they are located in the queue. However, in this case a priority is associated with each item and they are served accordingly.

Answer 4

A priority queue is a queue in the sense of the English word queue, not as a strict subtype of the other data structure named 'queue'. There is no inheritance going on there, they're just names that describe their purpose.