How do I clear the std::queue efficiently?

c++ data-structures stl queue

aJ. · Apr 2, 2009 · Viewed 160.3k times · Source

I am using std::queue for implementing JobQueue class. ( Basically this class process each job in FIFO manner). In one scenario, I want to clear the queue in one shot( delete all jobs from the queue). I don't see any clear method available in std::queue class.

How do I efficiently implement the clear method for JobQueue class ?

I have one simple solution of popping in a loop but I am looking for better ways.

//Clears the job queue
void JobQueue ::clearJobs()
 {
  // I want to avoid pop in a loop
    while (!m_Queue.empty())
    {
        m_Queue.pop();
    }
}

Answer

A common idiom for clearing standard containers is swapping with an empty version of the container:

void clear( std::queue<int> &q )
{
   std::queue<int> empty;
   std::swap( q, empty );
}

It is also the only way of actually clearing the memory held inside some containers (std::vector)

How do I clear the std::queue efficiently?

Answer

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