Tree Introduction
A tree is a hierarchical data structure consisting of nodes connected by edges. It's like an upside-down tree with the root at the top and leaves at the bottom. Trees are used in file systems, HTML DOM, network routing, and many algorithms.
Terminology:
- Root – topmost node (no parent).
- Node – an element containing data and links to children.
- Edge – connection between two nodes.
- Parent/Child – relationship between connected nodes.
- Leaf – node with no children.
- Subtree – a node and all its descendants.
- Height – number of edges in longest path from node to leaf.
- Depth – number of edges from root to node.
A simple tree node in Java:
public class TreeNode {
int val;
TreeNode left;
TreeNode right;
TreeNode(int val) {
this.val = val;
}
}
Two Minute Drill
- Tree is a non-linear hierarchical data structure.
- Nodes contain data and references to children.
- Root, leaf, parent, child, subtree are key terms.
- Height and depth measure distances.
- Used in file systems, compilers, and algorithms.
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