Java Interview Questions · interview question

Which practice avoids a common mistake with PriorityQueue and Heap Basics?

Multiple choiceMediumjava-interview-2026interviewjavapitfall

Silence the PriorityQueue and Heap Basics problem by using raw types, broad catches, or shared mutable state.Do not assume iterating a PriorityQueue returns globally sorted order, because only the head has ordering guarantees.Ignore the PriorityQueue and Heap Basics issue and rely on team discipline instead of APIs or contracts.Prefer the version of PriorityQueue and Heap Basics that makes behavior less predictable as long as the code compiles.

Answer and explanation

Correct answer

B. Do not assume iterating a PriorityQueue returns globally sorted order, because only the head has ordering guarantees.

Why

Do not assume iterating a PriorityQueue returns globally sorted order, because only the head has ordering guarantees. This is a common failure mode in real Java code and a frequent interview follow-up.

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Which practice avoids a common mistake with PriorityQueue and Heap Basics?

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