In this post, we show you how to create a priority queue in Java with examples.

Create a Priority Queue in Java Example

Let’s create a Priority Queue of integers and add some integers to it. After adding the integers, we’ll remove them one by one from the priority queue and see how the smallest integer is removed first followed by the next smallest integer and so on.

import java.util.PriorityQueue;

public class CreatePriorityQueueExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Create a Priority Queue
        PriorityQueue<Integer> numbers = new PriorityQueue<>();

        // Add items to a Priority Queue (ENQUEUE)
        numbers.add(750);
        numbers.add(500);
        numbers.add(900);
        numbers.add(100);

        // Remove items from the Priority Queue (DEQUEUE)
        while (!numbers.isEmpty()) {
            System.out.println(numbers.remove());
        }

    }
}

Output

100
500
750
900

Let’s see the same example with a Priority Queue of String elements.

import java.util.PriorityQueue;

public class CreatePriorityQueueStringExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Create a Priority Queue
        PriorityQueue<String> namePriorityQueue = new PriorityQueue<>();

        // Add items to a Priority Queue (ENQUEUE)
        namePriorityQueue.add("Lisa");
        namePriorityQueue.add("Robert");
        namePriorityQueue.add("John");
        namePriorityQueue.add("Chris");
        namePriorityQueue.add("Angelina");
        namePriorityQueue.add("Joe");

        // Remove items from the Priority Queue (DEQUEUE)
        while (!namePriorityQueue.isEmpty()) {
            System.out.println(namePriorityQueue.remove());
        }

    }
}

Output

Angelina
Chris
Joe
John
Lisa
Robert