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A Binary Search Tree

A binary search tree is a hierarchical data structure that organizes elements to allow for efficient search, insertion, deletion, and traversal operations. It works by having nodes that each contain a value and have at most two child nodes, with the value of each left child being less than its parent and the value of each right child being greater than or equal to its parent, enabling binary search. Searching involves recursively comparing the target value to the current node's value until found or reaching a leaf node. Insertion finds the correct position via search and attaches a new node there. Deletion handles three cases: removing leaf nodes, replacing nodes with one child, or swapping values and deleting successors for nodes with two children.

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60 views2 pages

A Binary Search Tree

A binary search tree is a hierarchical data structure that organizes elements to allow for efficient search, insertion, deletion, and traversal operations. It works by having nodes that each contain a value and have at most two child nodes, with the value of each left child being less than its parent and the value of each right child being greater than or equal to its parent, enabling binary search. Searching involves recursively comparing the target value to the current node's value until found or reaching a leaf node. Insertion finds the correct position via search and attaches a new node there. Deletion handles three cases: removing leaf nodes, replacing nodes with one child, or swapping values and deleting successors for nodes with two children.

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202202214
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A binary search tree (BST) is a data structure that organizes elements in a hierarchical manner for

efficient search, insertion, deletion, and traversal operations. Here's how a binary search tree works:

1. **Structure**:

- A binary search tree is composed of nodes, where each node contains a value and has at most two
child nodes: a left child and a right child.

- The value of the left child is less than the value of its parent node, and the value of the right child is
greater than or equal to the value of its parent node.

- This ordering property allows for efficient searching, as it enables binary search algorithm to be
applied to traverse the tree.

2. **Search Operation**:

- To search for a value in a binary search tree, start at the root node.

- Compare the target value with the value of the current node.

- If the target value is equal to the current node's value, the search is successful.

- If the target value is less than the current node's value, move to the left child node.

- If the target value is greater than the current node's value, move to the right child node.

- Repeat this process until the target value is found or the search reaches a leaf node (null), indicating
that the value is not present in the tree.

3. **Insertion Operation**:

- To insert a new value into a binary search tree, start at the root node and follow the search process
described above to find the appropriate position for the new value.

- Once the correct position is found (i.e., a leaf node where the value should be inserted), create a new
node with the value and attach it as either the left or right child of the leaf node, based on the
comparison with the parent node's value.

4. **Deletion Operation**:

- Deleting a node from a binary search tree involves three cases:


1. If the node to be deleted is a leaf node, simply remove it from the tree.

2. If the node to be deleted has only one child, replace the node with its child.

3. If the node to be deleted has two children, find the successor (or predecessor) node in the right (or
left) subtree, swap its value with the value of the node to be deleted, and then delete the successor
node, which now has at most one child.

5. **Traversal Operations**:

- In-order traversal: Visit the left subtree, then the current node, and finally the right subtree. This
produces a sorted list of elements in ascending order.

- Pre-order traversal: Visit the current node, then the left subtree, and finally the right subtree.

- Post-order traversal: Visit the left subtree, then the right subtree, and finally the current node.

By following these principles, a binary search tree efficiently stores and organizes data, facilitating fast
search and manipulation operations. However, to maintain balance and ensure optimal performance, it
may be necessary to implement self-balancing techniques such as AVL trees or Red-Black trees.

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