Fixed size queue which automatically dequeues old values upon new enques

Question

I would write a wrapper class that on Enqueue would check the Count and then Dequeue when the count exceeds the limit.

 public class FixedSizedQueue<T>
 {
     ConcurrentQueue<T> q = new ConcurrentQueue<T>();
     private object lockObject = new object();

     public int Limit { get; set; }
     public void Enqueue(T obj)
     {
        q.Enqueue(obj);
        lock (lockObject)
        {
           T overflow;
           while (q.Count > Limit && q.TryDequeue(out overflow)) ;
        }
     }
 }

I'd go for a slight variant... extend ConcurrentQueue so as to be able to use Linq extensions on FixedSizeQueue

public class FixedSizedQueue<T> : ConcurrentQueue<T>
{
    private readonly object syncObject = new object();

    public int Size { get; private set; }

    public FixedSizedQueue(int size)
    {
        Size = size;
    }

    public new void Enqueue(T obj)
    {
        base.Enqueue(obj);
        lock (syncObject)
        {
            while (base.Count > Size)
            {
                T outObj;
                base.TryDequeue(out outObj);
            }
        }
    }
}

For anyone who finds it useful, here is some working code based on Richard Schneider's answer above:

public class FixedSizedQueue<T>
{
    readonly ConcurrentQueue<T> queue = new ConcurrentQueue<T>();

    public int Size { get; private set; }

    public FixedSizedQueue(int size)
    {
        Size = size;
    }

    public void Enqueue(T obj)
    {
        queue.Enqueue(obj);

        while (queue.Count > Size)
        {
            T outObj;
            queue.TryDequeue(out outObj);
        }
    }
}

For what its worth, here's a lightweight circular buffer with some methods marked for safe and unsafe use.

public class CircularBuffer<T> : IEnumerable<T>
{
    readonly int size;
    readonly object locker;

    int count;
    int head;
    int rear;
    T[] values;

    public CircularBuffer(int max)
    {
        this.size = max;
        locker = new object();
        count = 0;
        head = 0;
        rear = 0;
        values = new T[size];
    }

    static int Incr(int index, int size)
    {
        return (index + 1) % size;
    }

    private void UnsafeEnsureQueueNotEmpty()
    {
        if (count == 0)
            throw new Exception("Empty queue");
    }

    public int Size { get { return size; } }
    public object SyncRoot { get { return locker; } }

    #region Count

    public int Count { get { return UnsafeCount; } }
    public int SafeCount { get { lock (locker) { return UnsafeCount; } } }
    public int UnsafeCount { get { return count; } }

    #endregion

    #region Enqueue

    public void Enqueue(T obj)
    {
        UnsafeEnqueue(obj);
    }

    public void SafeEnqueue(T obj)
    {
        lock (locker) { UnsafeEnqueue(obj); }
    }

    public void UnsafeEnqueue(T obj)
    {
        values[rear] = obj;

        if (Count == Size)
            head = Incr(head, Size);
        rear = Incr(rear, Size);
        count = Math.Min(count + 1, Size);
    }

    #endregion

    #region Dequeue

    public T Dequeue()
    {
        return UnsafeDequeue();
    }

    public T SafeDequeue()
    {
        lock (locker) { return UnsafeDequeue(); }
    }

    public T UnsafeDequeue()
    {
        UnsafeEnsureQueueNotEmpty();

        T res = values[head];
        values[head] = default(T);
        head = Incr(head, Size);
        count--;

        return res;
    }

    #endregion

    #region Peek

    public T Peek()
    {
        return UnsafePeek();
    }

    public T SafePeek()
    {
        lock (locker) { return UnsafePeek(); }
    }

    public T UnsafePeek()
    {
        UnsafeEnsureQueueNotEmpty();

        return values[head];
    }

    #endregion


    #region GetEnumerator

    public IEnumerator<T> GetEnumerator()
    {
        return UnsafeGetEnumerator();
    }

    public IEnumerator<T> SafeGetEnumerator()
    {
        lock (locker)
        {
            List<T> res = new List<T>(count);
            var enumerator = UnsafeGetEnumerator();
            while (enumerator.MoveNext())
                res.Add(enumerator.Current);
            return res.GetEnumerator();
        }
    }

    public IEnumerator<T> UnsafeGetEnumerator()
    {
        int index = head;
        for (int i = 0; i < count; i++)
        {
            yield return values[index];
            index = Incr(index, size);
        }
    }

    System.Collections.IEnumerator System.Collections.IEnumerable.GetEnumerator()
    {
        return this.GetEnumerator();
    }

    #endregion
}

I like to use the Foo()/SafeFoo()/UnsafeFoo() convention:

• Foo methods call UnsafeFoo as a default.
• UnsafeFoo methods modify state freely without a lock, they should only call other unsafe methods.
• SafeFoo methods call UnsafeFoo methods inside a lock.

Its a little verbose, but it makes obvious errors, like calling unsafe methods outside a lock in a method which is supposed to be thread-safe, more apparent.

My version is just a subclass of normal Queue ones.. nothing special but seeing everyone participating and it still goes with the topic title I might as well put it here. It also returns the dequeued ones just in case.

public sealed class SizedQueue<T> : Queue<T>
{
    public int FixedCapacity { get; }
    public SizedQueue(int fixedCapacity)
    {
        this.FixedCapacity = fixedCapacity;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// If the total number of item exceed the capacity, the oldest ones automatically dequeues.
    /// </summary>
    /// <returns>The dequeued value, if any.</returns>
    public new T Enqueue(T item)
    {
        base.Enqueue(item);
        if (base.Count > FixedCapacity)
        {
            return base.Dequeue();
        }
        return default;
    }
}

Here's my take on the fixed size Queue

It uses regular Queue, to avoid the synchronization overhead when the Count property is used on ConcurrentQueue. It also implements IReadOnlyCollection so that LINQ methods can be used. The rest is very similar to the other answers here.

[Serializable]
[DebuggerDisplay("Count = {" + nameof(Count) + "}, Limit = {" + nameof(Limit) + "}")]
public class FixedSizedQueue<T> : IReadOnlyCollection<T>
{
    private readonly Queue<T> _queue = new Queue<T>();
    private readonly object _lock = new object();

    public int Count { get { lock (_lock) { return _queue.Count; } } }
    public int Limit { get; }

    public FixedSizedQueue(int limit)
    {
        if (limit < 1)
            throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(nameof(limit));

        Limit = limit;
    }

    public FixedSizedQueue(IEnumerable<T> collection)
    {
        if (collection is null || !collection.Any())
           throw new ArgumentException("Can not initialize the Queue with a null or empty collection", nameof(collection));

        _queue = new Queue<T>(collection);
        Limit = _queue.Count;
    }

    public void Enqueue(T obj)
    {
        lock (_lock)
        {
            _queue.Enqueue(obj);

            while (_queue.Count > Limit)
                _queue.Dequeue();
        }
    }

    public void Clear()
    {
        lock (_lock)
            _queue.Clear();
    }

    public IEnumerator<T> GetEnumerator()
    {
        lock (_lock)
            return new List<T>(_queue).GetEnumerator();
    }

    IEnumerator IEnumerable.GetEnumerator()
    {
        return GetEnumerator();
    }
}

Just because no one's said it yet.. you can use a LinkedList<T> and add the thread safety:

public class Buffer<T> : LinkedList<T>
{
    private int capacity;

    public Buffer(int capacity)
    {
        this.capacity = capacity;   
    }

    public void Enqueue(T item)
    {
        // todo: add synchronization mechanism
        if (Count == capacity) RemoveLast();
        AddFirst(item);
    }

    public T Dequeue()
    {
        // todo: add synchronization mechanism
        var last = Last.Value;
        RemoveLast();
        return last;
    }
}

One thing to note is the default enumeration order will be LIFO in this example. But that can be overridden if necessary.