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Trees Importance in DS
Trees Importance in DS
In linear data structure, data is organized in sequential order and in non-linear data
structure, data is organized in random order. Tree is a very popular data structure used in
wide range of applications. A tree data structure can be defined as follows...
Tree is a non-linear data structure which organizes data in hierarchical structure and
this is a recursive definition.
In tree data structure, every individual element is called as Node. Node in a tree data
structure, stores the actual data of that particular element and link to next element in
hierarchical structure.
In a tree data structure, if we have N number of nodes then we can have a maximum of N-
1 number of links.
Example
Terminology
In a tree data structure, the first node is called as Root Node. Every tree must have root
node. We can say that root node is the origin of tree data structure. In any tree, there must
be only one root node. We never have multiple root nodes in a tree.
2. Edge
In a tree data structure, the connecting link between any two nodes is called as EDGE. In a
tree with 'N' number of nodes there will be a maximum of 'N-1' number of edges.
3. Parent
In a tree data structure, the node which is predecessor of any node is called as PARENT
NODE. In simple words, the node which has branch from it to any other node is called as
parent node. Parent node can also be defined as "The node which has child / children".
4. Child
In a tree data structure, the node which is descendant of any node is called as CHILD Node.
In simple words, the node which has a link from its parent node is called as child node. In a
tree, any parent node can have any number of child nodes. In a tree, all the nodes except
root are child nodes.
5. Siblings
In a tree data structure, nodes which belong to same Parent are called as SIBLINGS. In simple
words, the nodes with same parent are called as Sibling nodes.
6. Leaf
In a tree data structure, the node which does not have a child is called as LEAF Node. In
simple words, a leaf is a node with no child.
In a tree data structure, the leaf nodes are also called as External Nodes. External node is
also a node with no child. In a tree, leaf node is also called as 'Terminal' node.
7. Internal Nodes
In a tree data structure, the node which has atleast one child is called as INTERNAL Node. In
simple words, an internal node is a node with atleast one child.
In a tree data structure, nodes other than leaf nodes are called as Internal Nodes. The root
node is also said to be Internal Node if the tree has more than one node. Internal nodes are
also called as 'Non-Terminal' nodes.
8. Degree
In a tree data structure, the total number of children of a node is called as DEGREE of that
Node. In simple words, the Degree of a node is total number of children it has. The highest
degree of a node among all the nodes in a tree is called as 'Degree of Tree'
9. Level
In a tree data structure, the root node is said to be at Level 0 and the children of root node
are at Level 1 and the children of the nodes which are at Level 1 will be at Level 2 and so
on... In simple words, in a tree each step from top to bottom is called as a Level and the
Level count starts with '0' and incremented by one at each level (Step).
10. Height
In a tree data structure, the total number of egdes from leaf node to a particular node in the
longest path is called as HEIGHT of that Node. In a tree, height of the root node is said to
be height of the tree. In a tree, height of all leaf nodes is '0'.
11. Depth
In a tree data structure, the total number of egdes from root node to a particular node is
called as DEPTH of that Node. In a tree, the total number of edges from root node to a leaf
node in the longest path is said to be Depth of the tree. In simple words, the highest depth
of any leaf node in a tree is said to be depth of that tree. In a tree, depth of the root node is
'0'.
12. Path
In a tree data structure, the sequence of Nodes and Edges from one node to another node is
called as PATH between that two Nodes. Length of a Path is total number of nodes in that
path. In below example the path A - B - E - J has length 4.
In a tree data structure, each child from a node forms a subtree recursively. Every child node
will form a subtree on its parent node.
Tree Representations
A tree data structure can be represented in two methods. Those methods are as follows...
1. List Representation
2. Left Child - Right Sibling Representation
1. List Representation
In this representation, we use two types of nodes one for representing the node with data and
another for representing only references. We start with a node with data from root node in
the tree. Then it is linked to an internal node through a reference node and is linked to any
other node directly. This process repeats for all the nodes in the tree.
The above tree example can be represented using List representation as follows...
2. Left Child - Right Sibling Representation
In this representation, we use list with one type of node which consists of three fields namely
Data field, Left child reference field and Right sibling reference field. Data field stores the
actual value of a node, left reference field stores the address of the left child and right
reference field stores the address of the right sibling node. Graphical representation of that
node is as follows...
In this representation, every node's data field stores the actual value of that node. If that
node has left child, then left reference field stores the address of that left child node
otherwise that field stores NULL. If that node has right sibling then right reference field
stores the address of right sibling node otherwise that field stores NULL.
The above tree example can be represented using Left Child - Right Sibling representation as
follows...
Binary Tre
In a normal tree, every node can have any number of children. Binary tree is a special type of
tree data structure in which every node can have a maximum of 2 children. One is known as
left child and the other is known as right child.
A tree in which every node can have a maximum of two children is called as Binary Tree.
In a binary tree, every node can have either 0 children or 1 child or 2 children but not more
than 2 children.
Example
In a binary tree, every node can have a maximum of two children. But in strictly binary tree,
every node should have exactly two children or none. That means every internal node must
have exactly two children. A strictly Binary Tree can be defined as follows...
A binary tree in which every node has either two or zero number of children is called
Strictly Binary Tree
Strictly binary tree is also called as Full Binary Tree or Proper Binary Tree or 2-Tree
Strictly binary tree data structure is used to represent mathematical expressions.
Example
In a binary tree, every node can have a maximum of two children. But in strictly binary tree,
every node should have exactly two children or none and in complete binary tree all the
nodes must have exactly two children and at every level of complete binary tree there must
be 2level number of nodes. For example at level 2 there must be 22 = 4 nodes and at level 3
there must be 23 = 8 nodes.
A binary tree in which every internal node has exactly two children and all leaf nodes
are at same level is called Complete Binary Tree.
A binary tree can be converted into Full Binary tree by adding dummy nodes to existing nodes
wherever required.
The full binary tree obtained by adding dummy nodes to a binary tree is called as
Extended Binary Tree.
In above figure, a normal binary tree is converted into full binary tree by adding dummy
nodes (Square Nodes).
A binary tree data structure is represented using two methods. Those methods are as
follows...
1. Array Representation
2. Linked List Representation
1. Array Representation
In array representation of binary tree, we use a one dimensional array (1-D Array) to
represent a binary tree.
Consider the above example of binary tree and it is represented as follows...
To represent a binary tree of depth 'n' using array representation, we need one dimensional
array with a maximum size of 2n+1 - 1.
The above example of binary tree represented using Linked list representation is shown as
follows...
When we wanted to display a binary tree, we need to follow some order in which all the
nodes of that binary tree must be displayed. In any binary tree displaying order of nodes
depends on the traversal method.
Displaying (or) visiting order of nodes in a binary tree is called as Binary Tree Traversal.
In In-Order traversal, the root node is visited between left child and right child. In this
traversal, the left child node is visited first, then the root node is visited and later we go for
visiting right child node. This in-order traversal is applicable for every root node of all
subtrees in the tree. This is performed recursively for all nodes in the tree.
In the above example of binary tree, first we try to visit left child of root node 'A', but A's left
child is a root node for left subtree. so we try to visit its (B's) left child 'D' and again D is a
root for subtree with nodes D, I and J. So we try to visit its left child 'I' and it is the left most
child. So first we visit 'I' then go for its root node 'D' and later we visit D's right child 'J'. With
this we have completed the left part of node B. Then visit 'B' and next B's right child 'F' is
visited. With this we have completed left part of node A. Then visit root node 'A'. With this
we have completed left and root parts of node A. Then we go for right part of the node A. In
right of A again there is a subtree with root C. So go for left child of C and again it is a
subtree with root G. But G does not have left part so we visit 'G' and then visit G's right child
K. With this we have completed the left part of node C. Then visit root node 'C' and next visit
C's right child 'H' which is the right most child in the tree so we stop the process.
That means here we have visited in the order of I - D - J - B - F - A - G - K - C - H using In-
Order Traversal.
I-D-J-B-F-A-G-K-C-H
In Pre-Order traversal, the root node is visited before left child and right child nodes. In this
traversal, the root node is visited first, then its left child and later its right child. This pre-
order traversal is applicable for every root node of all subtrees in the tree.
In the above example of binary tree, first we visit root node 'A' then visit its left
child 'B' which is a root for D and F. So we visit B's left child 'D' and again D is a root for I and
J. So we visit D's left child 'I' which is the left most child. So next we go for visiting D's right
child 'J'. With this we have completed root, left and right parts of node D and root, left parts
of node B. Next visit B's right child 'F'. With this we have completed root and left parts of
node A. So we go for A's right child 'C' which is a root node for G and H. After visiting C, we go
for its left child 'G' which is a root for node K. So next we visit left of G, but it does not have
left child so we go for G's right child 'K'. With this we have completed node C's root and left
parts. Next visit C's right child 'H' which is the right most child in the tree. So we stop the
process.
That means here we have visited in the order of A-B-D-I-J-F-C-G-K-H using Pre-Order
Traversal.
A-B-D-I-J-F-C-G-K-H
In Post-Order traversal, the root node is visited after left child and right child. In this
traversal, left child node is visited first, then its right child and then its root node. This is
recursively performed until the right most node is visited.
I-J-D-F-B-K-G-H-C–A
A binary tree is represented using array representation or linked list representation. When a
binary tree is represented using linked list representation, if any node is not having a child we
use NULL pointer in that position. In any binary tree linked list representation, there are more
number of NULL pointer than actual pointers. Generally, in any binary tree linked list
representation, if there are 2N number of reference fields, then N+1 number of reference
fields are filled with NULL ( N+1 are NULL out of 2N ). This NULL pointer does not play any
role except indicating there is no link (no child).
A. J. Perlis and C. Thornton have proposed new binary tree called "Threaded Binary Tree",
which make use of NULL pointer to improve its traversal processes. In threaded binary tree,
NULL pointers are replaced by references to other nodes in the tree, called threads.
Threaded Binary Tree is also a binary tree in which all left child pointers that are NULL
(in Linked list representation) points to its in-order predecessor, and all right child
pointers that are NULL (in Linked list representation) points to its in-order successor.
To convert above binary tree into threaded binary tree, first find the in-order traversal of
that tree...
In-order traversal of above binary tree...
H-D-I-B-E-A-F-J-C-G
When we represent above binary tree using linked list representation, nodes H, I, E, F,
J and G left child pointers are NULL. This NULL is replaced by address of its in-order
predecessor, respectively (I to D, E to B, F to A, J to F and G to C), but here the node H does
not have its in-order predecessor, so it points to the root node A. And nodes H, I, E,
J and G right child pointers are NULL. This NULL ponters are replaced by address of its in-
order successor, respectively (H to D, I to B, E to A, and J to C), but here the node G does not
have its in-order successor, so it points to the root node A.
Above example binary tree become as follows after converting into threaded binary tree.
Priority Queue
In normal queue data structure, insertion is performed at the end of the queue and deletion
is performed based on the FIFO principle. This queue implementation may not be suitable for
all situations.
Consider a networking application where server has to respond for requests from multiple
clients using queue data structure. Assume four requests arrived to the queue in the order of
R1 requires 20 units of time, R2 requires 2 units of time, R3 requires 10 units of time and R4
requires 5 units of time. Queue is as follows...
Now, check waiting time for each request to be complete.
1. R1 : 20 units of time
2. R2 : 22 units of time (R2 must wait till R1 complete - 20 units and R2 itself
requeres 2 units. Total 22 units)
3. R3 : 32 units of time (R3 must wait till R2 complete - 22 units and R3 itself
requeres 10 units. Total 32 units)
4. R4 : 37 units of time (R4 must wait till R3 complete - 35 units and R4 itself
requeres 5 units. Total 37 units)
Here, average waiting time for all requests (R1, R2, R3 and R4) is (20+22+32+37)/4 ≈ 27
units of time.
That means, if we use a normal queue data structure to serve these requests the average
waiting time for each request is 27 units of time.
Now, consider another way of serving these requests. If we serve according to their required
amount of time. That means, first we serve R2 which has minimum time required (2) then
serve R4 which has second minimum time required (5) then serve R3 which has third minimum
time required (10) and finnaly R1 which has maximum time required (20).
Now, check waiting time for each request to be complete.
1. R2 : 2 units of time
2. R4 : 7 units of time (R4 must wait till R2 complete 2 units and R4 itself requeres 5
units. Total 7 units)
3. R3 : 17 units of time (R3 must wait till R4 complete 7 units and R3 itself requeres
10 units. Total 17 units)
4. R1 : 37 units of time (R1 must wait till R3 complete 17 units and R1 itself requeres
20 units. Total 37 units)
Here, average waiting time for all requests (R1, R2, R3 and R4) is (2+7+17+37)/4 ≈ 15
units of time.
From above two situations, it is very clear that, by using second method server can complete
all four requests with very less time compared to the first method. This is what exactly done
by the priority queue.
Priority queue is a variant of queue data structure in which insertion is performed in the
order of arrival and deletion is performed based on the priority.
always maximum value is removed first from the queue. For example assume that we insert in
2. Using an Unordered Array (Dynamic Array) with the index of the maximum value
6. Using Unordered Linked List with reference to node with the maximum value
For example, assume that elements are inserted in the order of 8, 2, 3 and 5. And they are
removed in the order 8, 5, 3 and 2.
Now, let us analyse each operation according to this representation...
isEmpty() - If 'front == -1' queue is Empty. This operation requires O(1) time complexity that
means constant time.
insert() - New element is added at the end of the queue. This operation requires O(1) time
complexity that means constant time.
findMax() - To find maximum element in the queue, we need to compare with all the
elements in the queue. This operation requires O(n)time complexity.
remove() - To remove an element from the queue first we need to perform findMax() which
requires O(n) and removal of particular element requires constant time O(1). This operation
requires O(n) time complexity.
#2. Using an Unordered Array (Dynamic Array) with the index of the maximum value
In this representation elements are inserted according to their arrival order and maximum
element is deleted first from max priority queue.
For example, assume that elements are inserted in the order of 8, 2, 3 and 5. And they are
removed in the order 8, 5, 3 and 2.
For example, assume that elements are inserted in the order of 8, 5, 3 and 2. And they are
removed in the order 8, 5, 3 and 2.
For example, assume that elements are inserted in the order of 2, 3, 5 and 8. And they are
removed in the order 8, 5, 3 and 2.
For example, assume that elements are inserted in the order of 2, 3, 5 and 8. And they are
removed in the order 8, 5, 3 and 2.
#6. Using Unordered Linked List with reference to node with the maximum value
In this representation, we use a single linked list to represent max priority queue. Always we
maitain a reference (maxValue) to the node with maximum value. In this representation
elements are inserted according to their arrival and node with maximum value is deleted first
from max priority queue.
For example, assume that elements are inserted in the order of 2, 8, 3 and 5. And they are
removed in the order 8, 5, 3 and 2.
Heap data structure is a specialized binary tree based data structure. Heap is a binary tree
with special characteristics. In a heap data structure, nodes are arranged based on thier
value. A heap data structure, some time called as Binary Heap.
There are two types of heap data structures and they are as follows...
1. Max Heap
2. Min Heap
Every heap data structure has the following properties...
Property #1 (Ordering): Nodes must be arranged in a order according to values based on Max
heap or Min heap.
Property #2 (Structural): All levels in a heap must full, except last level and nodes must be
filled from left to right strictly.
Max Heap
Max heap data structure is a specialized full binary tree data structure except last leaf node
can be alone. In a max heap nodes are arranged based on node value.
Max heap is a specialized full binary tree in which every parent node contains greater or
equal value than its child nodes. And last leaf node can be alone.
Example
Above tree is satisfying both Ordering property and Structural property according to the Max
Heap data structure.
Operations on Max Heap
The following operations are performed on a Max heap data structure...
1. Finding Maximum
2. Insertion
3. Deletion
Finding Maximum Value Operation in Max Heap
Finding the node which has maximum value in a max heap is very simple. In max heap, the
root node has the maximum value than all other nodes in the max heap. So, directly we can
display root node value as maximum value in max heap.
Insertion Operation in Max Heap
Insertion Operation in max heap is performed as follows...
Step 1: Insert the newNode as last leaf from left to right.
Step 2: Compare newNode value with its Parent node.
Step 3: If newNode value is greater than its parent, then swap both of them.
Step 4: Repeat step 2 and step 3 until newNode value is less than its parent nede (or)
newNode reached to root.
Example
Consider the above max heap. Insert a new node with value 85.
Step 1: Insert the newNode with value 85 as last leaf from left to right. That means
newNode is added as a right child of node with value 75. After adding max heap is as
follows...
Step 2: Compare newNode value (85) with its Parent node value (75). That
means 85 > 75
Step 3: Here newNode value (85) is greater than its parent value (75),
then swap both of them. After wsapping, max heap is as follows...
Step 4: Now, again compare newNode value (85) with its parent nede value (89).
Here, newNode value (85) is smaller than its parent node value (89). So, we stop
insertion process. Finally, max heap after insetion of a new node with value 85 is as
follows...
Step 2: Delete last node. Here node with value 90. After deleting node with value 90
from heap, max heap is as follows...
Step 3: Compare root node (75) with its left child (89).
Here, root value (75) is smaller than its left child value (89). So, compare left child
(89) with its right sibling (70).
Step 4: Here, left child value (89) is larger than its right sibling (70), So, swap root
(75) with left child (89).
Here, node with value 75 is larger than its left child. So, we compare node with
value 75 is compared with its right child 85.
Step 6: Here, node with value 75 is smaller than its right child (85). So, we swap both
of them. After swapping max heap is as follows...
Step 7: Now, compare node with value 75 with its left child (15).
Here, node with value 75 is larger than its left child (15) and it does not have right
child. So we stop the process.
In a binary tree, every node can have maximum of two children but there is no order of nodes
based on their values. In binary tree, the elements are arranged as they arrive to the tree,
from top to bottom and left to right.
Binary Search Tree is a binary tree in which every node contains only smaller values in
its left subtree and only larger values in its right subtree.
In a binary search tree, all the nodes in left subtree of any node contains smaller values and
all the nodes in right subtree of that contains larger values as shown in following figure...
Example
The following tree is a Binary Search Tree. In this tree, left subtree of every node contains
nodes with smaller values and right subtree of every node contains larger values.
Every Binary Search Tree is a binary tree but all the Binary Trees need not to be binary
search trees.
It this case, node is cut from the tree and algorithm links single child (with it's
subtree) directly to the parent of the removed node.
This is the most complex case. To solve it, let us see one useful BST property first.
We are going to use the idea, that the same set of values may be represented as
different binary-search trees. For example those BSTs:
contains the same values {5, 19, 21, 25}. To transform first tree into second one, we
can do following:
o choose minimum element from the right subtree (19 in the example);
o replace 5 by 19;
o hang 5 as a left child.
The same approach can be utilized to remove a node, which has two children:
Notice, that the node with minimum value has no left child and, therefore, it's
removal may result in first or second cases only.
Find minimum element in the right subtree of the node to be removed. In current
example it is 19.
Replace 12 with 19. Notice, that only values are replaced, not nodes. Now we have
two nodes with the same value.
Remove 19 from the left subtree.