


How do I use the deque data structure from the collections module in Python?
Jun 22, 2025 am 12:56 AMPython's deque is suitable for scenarios where two-end operations need to be handled efficiently. 1. You can pass in a list or string when creating, or initialize it to empty before adding elements; 2. Use append() and appendleft() to add elements at the right and left ends respectively; 3. Use pop() and popleft() to remove elements from the right and left ends respectively; 4. The rotate(n) method moves the element to the right (positive number) or to the left (negative number) cycle; 5. After setting the maxlen parameter, the old elements on the side will be automatically discarded when the capacity exceeds the capacity; 6. Suitable for use in queues, sliding windows, history and other scenarios. Compared with the list, deque has O(1) time complexity in the header operation and has better performance.
The deque
(double-ended queue) from Python's collections
module is a versatile and efficient data structure, especially when you need fast appends and pops from both ends. If you're used to working with lists, switching to deque
can give you performance boosts in certain situations.
Let's break down how to use it effectively.
Creating and Initializing a Deque
To start using deque
, you first need to import it from the collections
module. Then you can create one by passing in an iterable like a list or string.
from collections import deque d = deque([1, 2, 3])
You can also initialize it empty and add elements later. It's pretty flexible — strings, tuples, and even other deques work as input.
If you're starting from scratch:
- Use
append()
to add to the right end - Use
appendleft()
to add to the left end
d = deque() d.append(1) # deque([1]) d.appendleft(0) # deque([0, 1])
Adding and Removeing ??Elements Efficiently
One of the main advantages of deque
over regular lists is its speed for operations at both ends. With a normal list, inserting or removing from the front ( pop(0)
or insert(0, x)
) takes O(n) time, which gets slow for large data sets. deque
does these operations in O(1) time.
Here are some common operations:
- Add to the right :
append(x)
- Add to the left :
appendleft(x)
- Remove from the right :
pop()
- Remove from the left :
popleft()
d = deque([1, 2, 3]) d.append(4) # deque([1, 2, 3, 4]) d.popleft() # returns 1 → deque([2, 3, 4])
This makes deque
perfect for things like queues or sliding window problems.
Rotating and Managing Elements
Another handy feature is the rotate()
method. It shifts elements in place to the right (or left if given a negative number).
For example:
d = deque([1, 2, 3, 4, 5]) d.rotate(1) # deque([5, 1, 2, 3, 4])
That moves each element one position to the right, wrapping around the end. A negative rotation goes the other way:
d.rotate(-1) # back to deque([1, 2, 3, 4, 5])
Also, if you ever need to limit the size of your deque, you can set the maxlen
parameter when creating it. Once full, adding new items will automatically drop the oldest ones from the opposite end.
d = deque(maxlen=3) d.append(1) d.append(2) d.append(3) d.append(4) # now contains [2, 3, 4]
This is super useful for tracking recent values ??or implementing fixed-size buffers.
When to Use Deque instead of List
In most cases, you'll still want to use a regular list. But if you find yourself frequently doing:
- Insertions/removals at the beginning
- Implementing queues or stacks
- Maintaining a history or buffer of recent items
Then deque
is the better choice.
Even though they look similar and support many of the same methods, their performance characteristics different. So if you're building something that needs high efficiency on both ends, switch to deque
.
Basically that's it. After mastering a few common methods, you will find that it is more suitable than a list in many scenarios and is not complicated to use.
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