NAME

       queue - implementations of linked lists and queues

DESCRIPTION

       The  <sys/queue.h>  header  file  provides  a set of macros that define and operate on the
       following data structures:

       *  singly linked lists (SLIST)

       *  doubly linked lists (LIST)

       *  singly linked tail queues (STAILQ)

       *  doubly linked tail queues (TAILQ)

       *  doubly linked circular queues (CIRCLEQ)

       All structures support the following functionality:

       *  Insertion of a new entry at the head of the list.

       *  Insertion of a new entry after any element in the list.

       *  O(1) removal of an entry from the head of the list.

       *  Forward traversal through the list.

       Code size and execution time depend on the complexity of the data structure being used, so
       programmers should take care to choose the appropriate one.

   Singly linked lists (SLIST)
       Singly  linked  lists  are  the simplest and support only the above functionality.  Singly
       linked lists are ideal for applications with large datasets and few or no removals, or for
       implementing a LIFO queue.  Singly linked lists add the following functionality:

       *  O(n) removal of any entry in the list.

   Singly linked tail queues (STAILQ)
       Singly linked tail queues add the following functionality:

       *  Entries can be added at the end of a list.

       *  O(n) removal of any entry in the list.

       *  They may be concatenated.

       However:

       *  All list insertions must specify the head of the list.

       *  Each head entry requires two pointers rather than one.

       Singly  linked  tail  queues  are ideal for applications with large datasets and few or no
       removals, or for implementing a FIFO queue.

   Doubly linked data structures
       All doubly linked types of data structures (lists and tail queues) additionally allow:

       *  Insertion of a new entry before any element in the list.

       *  O(1) removal of any entry in the list.

       However:

       *  Each element requires two pointers rather than one.

   Doubly linked lists (LIST)
       Linked lists are the simplest  of  the  doubly  linked  data  structures.   They  add  the
       following functionality over the above:

       *  They may be traversed backwards.

       However:

       *  To  traverse  backwards,  an  entry  to begin the traversal and the list in which it is
          contained must be specified.

   Doubly linked tail queues (TAILQ)
       Tail queues add the following functionality:

       *  Entries can be added at the end of a list.

       *  They may be traversed backwards, from tail to head.

       *  They may be concatenated.

       However:

       *  All list insertions and removals must specify the head of the list.

       *  Each head entry requires two pointers rather than one.

   Doubly linked circular queues (CIRCLEQ)
       Circular queues add the following functionality over the above:

       *  The first and last entries are connected.

       However:

       *  The termination condition for traversal is more complex.

CONFORMING TO

       Not in POSIX.1, POSIX.1-2001 or POSIX.1-2008.  Present on the BSDs.  <sys/queue.h>  macros
       first appeared in 4.4BSD.

SEE ALSO

       circleq(3), insque(3), list(3), slist(3), stailq(3), tailq(3)

COLOPHON

       This  page  is  part of release 5.10 of the Linux man-pages project.  A description of the
       project, information about reporting bugs, and the latest version of  this  page,  can  be
       found at https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.