What is the time complexity of removing the highest priority element from a prio
Practice Questions
Q1
What is the time complexity of removing the highest priority element from a priority queue implemented with a binary heap?
O(1)
O(log n)
O(n)
O(n log n)
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
What is the time complexity of removing the highest priority element from a priority queue implemented with a binary heap?
Step 1: Understand what a priority queue is. A priority queue is a data structure that allows you to store elements with priorities, where the highest priority element can be accessed quickly.
Step 2: Know that a binary heap is a common way to implement a priority queue. In a binary heap, the highest priority element is always at the top (the root) of the heap.
Step 3: When you want to remove the highest priority element, you take the root element out of the heap.
Step 4: After removing the root, you need to maintain the heap property. This means you have to rearrange the remaining elements so that the structure of the heap is preserved.
Step 5: To maintain the heap property, you typically move the last element in the heap to the root position and then 'heapify' down from the root. This involves comparing the new root with its children and swapping it with the larger child until the heap property is restored.
Step 6: The process of 'heapifying' down takes time proportional to the height of the heap. In a binary heap, the height is log(n), where n is the number of elements in the heap.
Step 7: Therefore, the time complexity for removing the highest priority element from a binary heap is O(log n).
