Remove all items from a Queue in Python

Remove all items from a Queue in Python

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  • Python
  • 2 mins read

To remove all items from a Queue in Python, use the queue.clear() method. Below is an example:

Remove all items from a Queue in Python

To remove all items from a queue in Python:

  1. To obtain a deque object, simply use the queue's queue attribute.
  2. Use q.queue.clear to invoke the clear() method on a deque object ().
  3. If you use clear on a queue, it will clear out everything in it.
import queue

q = queue.Queue()

for item in range(10):
    q.put(item)

print(q.queue)  # deque([0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9])

q.queue.clear()

print(q.queue)  # deque([])

Deque objects, which are referenced by the queue attribute, feature a clear method.

The clear() function empties the deque of all of its elements, leaving it with a length of 0.

Use a mutex lock to prevent incompatible threads from modifying the operation at the same time.

import queue

q = queue.Queue()

for item in range(10):
    q.put(item)

print(q.queue)

# mutex lock
with q.mutex:
    q.queue.clear()

print(q.queue)

If your code operates in a multi-threaded setting, you can employ the use of a mutex lock.

The second option is to make a new queue and remove the old one.

import queue

q = queue.Queue()

for item in range(10):
    q.put(item)

del q  # delete old queue


new_q = queue.Queue()

print(new_q.queue)