c# Adding a Remove(int index) method to the .NET Queue class

Question

I would like to use the generic queue class as described in the .NET framework (3.5) but I will need a Remove(int index) method to remove items from the queue. Can I achieve this functionality with an extension method? Anyone care to point me in the right direction?

Answer 1

What you want is a List<T> where you always call RemoveAt(0) when you want to get the item from the Queue. Everything else is the same, really (calling Add would add an item to the end of the Queue).

Answer 2

Combining both casperOne's and David Anderson's suggestions to the next level. The following class inherits from List and hides the methods that would be detrimental to the FIFO concept while adding the three Queue methods (Equeue, Dequeu, Peek).

public class ListQueue<T> : List<T>
{
    new public void Add(T item) { throw new NotSupportedException(); }
    new public void AddRange(IEnumerable<T> collection) { throw new NotSupportedException(); }
    new public void Insert(int index, T item) { throw new NotSupportedException(); }
    new public void InsertRange(int index, IEnumerable<T> collection) { throw new NotSupportedException(); }
    new public void Reverse() { throw new NotSupportedException(); }
    new public void Reverse(int index, int count) { throw new NotSupportedException(); }
    new public void Sort() { throw new NotSupportedException(); }
    new public void Sort(Comparison<T> comparison) { throw new NotSupportedException(); }
    new public void Sort(IComparer<T> comparer) { throw new NotSupportedException(); }
    new public void Sort(int index, int count, IComparer<T> comparer) { throw new NotSupportedException(); }

    public void Enqueue(T item)
    {
        base.Add(item);
    }

    public T Dequeue()
    {
        var t = base[0]; 
        base.RemoveAt(0);
        return t;
    }

    public T Peek()
    {
        return base[0];
    }
}

Test code:

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        ListQueue<string> queue = new ListQueue<string>();

        Console.WriteLine("Item count in ListQueue: {0}", queue.Count);
        Console.WriteLine();

        for (int i = 1; i <= 10; i++)
        {
            var text = String.Format("Test{0}", i);
            queue.Enqueue(text);
            Console.WriteLine("Just enqueued: {0}", text);
        }

        Console.WriteLine();
        Console.WriteLine("Item count in ListQueue: {0}", queue.Count);
        Console.WriteLine();

        var peekText = queue.Peek();
        Console.WriteLine("Just peeked at: {0}", peekText);
        Console.WriteLine();

        var textToRemove = "Test5";
        queue.Remove(textToRemove);
        Console.WriteLine("Just removed: {0}", textToRemove);
        Console.WriteLine();

        var queueCount = queue.Count;
        for (int i = 0; i < queueCount; i++)
        {
            var text = queue.Dequeue();
            Console.WriteLine("Just dequeued: {0}", text);
        }

        Console.WriteLine();
        Console.WriteLine("Item count in ListQueue: {0}", queue.Count);

        Console.WriteLine();
        Console.WriteLine("Now try to ADD an item...should cause an exception.");
        queue.Add("shouldFail");

    }
}