How would you code an efficient Circular Buffer in Java or C#?

Question

I want a simple class that implements a fixed-size circular buffer. It should be efficient, easy on the eyes, generically typed.

For now it need not be MT-capable. I can always add a lock later, it won't be high-concurrency in any case.

Methods should be: .Add() and I guess .List(), where I retrieve all the entries. On second thought, Retrieval I think should be done via an indexer. At any moment I will want to be able to retrieve any element in the buffer by index. But keep in mind that from one moment to the next Element[n] may be different, as the circular buffer fills up and rolls over. This isn't a stack, it's a circular buffer.

Regarding "overflow": I would expect internally there would be an array holding the items, and over time the head and tail of the buffer will rotate around that fixed array. But that should be invisible from the user. There should be no externally-detectable "overflow" event or behavior.

This is not a school assignment - it is most commonly going to be used for a MRU cache or a fixed-size transaction or event log.

Answer 1

I would use an array of T, a head and tail pointer, and add and get methods.

Like: (Bug hunting is left to the user)

// Hijack these for simplicity
import java.nio.BufferOverflowException;
import java.nio.BufferUnderflowException;

public class CircularBuffer<T> {

  private T[] buffer;

  private int tail;

  private int head;

  @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
  public CircularBuffer(int n) {
    buffer = (T[]) new Object[n];
    tail = 0;
    head = 0;
  }

  public void add(T toAdd) {
    if (head != (tail - 1)) {
        buffer[head++] = toAdd;
    } else {
        throw new BufferOverflowException();
    }
    head = head % buffer.length;
  }

  public T get() {
    T t = null;
    int adjTail = tail > head ? tail - buffer.length : tail;
    if (adjTail < head) {
        t = (T) buffer[tail++];
        tail = tail % buffer.length;
    } else {
        throw new BufferUnderflowException();
    }
    return t;
  }

  public String toString() {
    return "CircularBuffer(size=" + buffer.length + ", head=" + head + ", tail=" + tail + ")";
  }

  public static void main(String[] args) {
    CircularBuffer<String> b = new CircularBuffer<String>(3);
    for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
        System.out.println("Start: " + b);
        b.add("One");
        System.out.println("One: " + b);
        b.add("Two");
        System.out.println("Two: " + b);
        System.out.println("Got '" + b.get() + "', now " + b);

        b.add("Three");
        System.out.println("Three: " + b);
        // Test Overflow
        // b.add("Four");
        // System.out.println("Four: " + b);

        System.out.println("Got '" + b.get() + "', now " + b);
        System.out.println("Got '" + b.get() + "', now " + b);
        // Test Underflow
        // System.out.println("Got '" + b.get() + "', now " + b);

        // Back to start, let's shift on one
        b.add("Foo");
        b.get();
    }
  }
}