# taken from https://gist.github.com/brianstorti/e20300eb2e7d62b87849 class PriorityQueue attr_reader :elements def initialize @elements = [nil] end def <<(element) @elements << element bubble_up(@elements.size - 1) end def pop exchange(1, @elements.size - 1) max = @elements.pop bubble_down(1) max end def length elements.length - 1 end private def bubble_up(index) parent_index = (index / 2) return if index <= 1 return if @elements[parent_index] >= @elements[index] exchange(index, parent_index) bubble_up(parent_index) end def bubble_down(index) child_index = (index * 2) return if child_index > @elements.size - 1 not_the_last_element = child_index < @elements.size - 1 left_element = @elements[child_index] right_element = @elements[child_index + 1] child_index += 1 if not_the_last_element && right_element > left_element return if @elements[index] >= @elements[child_index] exchange(index, child_index) bubble_down(child_index) end def exchange(source, target) @elements[source], @elements[target] = @elements[target], @elements[source] end end