Trees

Initially prepared by Dr. İlyas Çiçekli; improved by various Bilkent CS202 instructors.

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 1

 What is a Tree?

• T is a tree if either

– T has no nodes, or

– T is of the form:

where r is a node and T1, T2, ..., Tk are trees.

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 Tree Terminology
Parent – The parent of node n is the node directly above in the tree.
Child – The child of node n is the node directly below in the tree.
• If node m is the parent of node n, node n is the child of node m.
Root – The only node in the tree with no parent.

Leaf – A node with no children.

Siblings – Nodes with a common parent.

Ancestor – An ancestor of node n is a node on the path from the root to n.
Descendant – A descendant of node n is a node on the path from n to a leaf.

Subtree – A subtree of node n is a tree that consists of a child (if any) of n and the
child’s descendants (a tree which is rooted by a child of node n)

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 A Tree – Example
Root A

B C D E F G
Leaf
H I J K L M N

Siblings
P Q

–Node A has 6 children: B, C, D, E, F, G.

–B, C, H, I, P, Q, K, L, M, N are leaves in the tree above.
–K, L, M are siblings since F is parent of all of them.

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 What is a Tree?

• The root of each sub-tree is said to be child of r, and

r is the parent of each sub-tree’s root.

• If a tree is a collection of N nodes, then it has N-1 edges. Why?

• A path from node n1 to nk is defined as a sequence of nodes n1,n2,

…,nk such that ni is parent of ni+1 (1 ≤ i < k)
– There is a path from every node to itself.
– There is exactly one path from the root to each node. Why?

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 Level of a node
Level – The level of node n is the number of nodes on the path from root
to node n.

Definition: The level of node n in a tree T

– If n is the root of T, the level of n is 1.
– If n is not the root of T, its level is 1 greater than the level of its
parent.

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 Height of A Tree
Height – number of nodes on longest path from the root to any leaf.
• The height of a tree T in terms of the levels of its nodes is defined as:
– If T is empty, its height is 0
– If T is not empty, its height is equal to the maximum level of its nodes.
• Or, the height of a tree T can be defined as recursively as:
– If T is empty, its height is 0.
– If T is non-empty tree, then since T is of the form:

height(T) = 1 + max{height(T1),height(T2),...,height(Tk)}

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 7

 Binary Tree
• A binary tree T is a set of nodes with the following properties:
– The set can be empty.
– Otherwise, the set is partitioned into three disjoint subsets:
• a tree consists of a distinguished node r, called root, and
• two possibly empty sets are binary tree, called left and right
subtrees of r.

• T is a binary tree if either

– T has no nodes, or
– T is of the form:

where r is a node and TL and TR are binary trees.

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 Binary Tree Terminology
Left Child – The left child of node n is a node directly below and to the
left of node n in a binary tree.

Right Child – The right child of node n is a node directly below and to the
right of node n in a binary tree.

Left Subtree – In a binary tree, the left subtree of node n is the left child
(if any) of node n plus its descendants.

Right Subtree – In a binary tree, the right subtree of node n is the right
child (if any) of node n plus its descendants.

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 Binary Tree -- Example

• A is the root.
∙A
∙C • B is left child of A,
∙B
C is right child of A.
∙D ∙E
• D doesn’t have a right child.
∙F ∙G ∙H
• H doesn’t have a left child.
∙I
• B, F, G and I are leaves.

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Binary Tree – Representing Algebraic Expressions

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 Height of Binary Tree
• The height of a binary tree T can be defined as recursively as:
– If T is empty, its height is 0.
– If T is non-empty tree, then since T is of the form ...

... height of T is 1 greater than height of its root’s taller subtree; ie.

height(T) = 1 + max{height(TL),height(TR)}

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 Height of Binary Tree (cont.)

Binary trees with the same nodes but different heights

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 Number of Binary trees with Same # of Nodes
n=0 🡺 empty tree

n=1 🡺
∙ (1 tree)

∙ ∙
n=2 🡺 (2 trees)
∙ ∙

∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙
n=3 🡺 (5 trees)
∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙
∙ ∙ ∙ ∙

n is even 🡺

n is odd 🡺
CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 14
 Full Binary Tree
• In a full binary tree of height h, all nodes that are at a level less than h
have two children each.
• Each node in a full binary tree has left and right subtrees of the same
height.
• Among binary trees of height h, a full binary tree has as many leaves as
possible, and leaves all are at level h.
• A full binary tree has no missing nodes.
• Recursive definition of full binary tree:
– If T is empty, T is a full binary tree of height 0.
– If T is not empty and has height h>0, T is a full binary tree if its
root’s subtrees are both full binary trees of height h-1.

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Full Binary Tree – Example

A full binary tree of height 3

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 Complete Binary Tree
• A complete binary tree of height h is a binary tree that is full down to
level h-1, with level h filled in from left to right.

• A binary tree T of height h is complete if

1. All nodes at level h-2 and above have two children each, and
2. When a node at level h-1 has children, all nodes to its left at the
same level have two children each, and
3. When a node at level h-1 has one child, it is a left child.

• A full binary tree is a complete binary tree.

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Complete Binary Tree – Example

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 Balanced Binary Tree

• A binary tree is balanced (or height balanced), if the height

of any node’s right subtree and left subtree differ no more
than 1.

• A complete binary tree is a balanced tree. Why?

• Later, we look at other height balanced trees.

– AVL trees
– Red-Black trees, ....

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 Maximum and Minimum Heights of a Binary Tree
• Efficiency of most binary tree operations depends on tree height.

• E.g. maximum number of key comparisons for retrieval, deletion, and

insertion operations for BSTs is the height of the tree.

• The maximum of height of a binary tree with n nodes is n. How?

• Each level of a minimum height tree, except the last level, must
contain as many nodes as possible.
– Should the tree be a Complete Binary Tree?

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 Maximum and Minimum Heights of a Binary Tree

A maximum-height binary tree

with seven nodes Some binary trees of height 3

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Counting the nodes in a full binary tree of height h

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 Some Height Theorems
Theorem: A full binary tree of height h≥0 has 2h-1 nodes.

• The maximum number of nodes that a binary tree of height h can have
is 2h-1.

• We cannot insert a new node into a full binary tree without

increasing its height.

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 Some Height Theorems
Theorem 10-4: The minimum height of a binary tree with n nodes is ⎡log2(n+1)⎤ .
Proof: Let h be the smallest integer such that n≤2h-1. We can establish following facts:
Fact 1 – A binary tree whose height is ≤ h-1 has < n nodes.
– Otherwise h cannot be smallest integer in our assumption.
Fact 2 – There exists a complete binary tree of height h that has exactly n nodes.
– A full binary tree of height h-1 has 2h-1-1 nodes.
– Since a binary tree of height h cannot have more than 2h-1 nodes.
– At level h, we will reach n nodes.
Fact 3 – The minimum height of a binary tree with n nodes is the smallest integer h
such that n ≤2h-1.
So, 🡺 2h-1-1 < n ≤ 2h-1
🡺 2h-1 < n+1 ≤ 2h
🡺 h-1 < log2(n+1) ≤ h
Thus, 🡺 h = ⎡log2(n+1)⎤ is the minimum height of a binary tree with n nodes.

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• UML Diagram for BinaryTree ADT

• What is an ADT?

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 An Array-Based Implementation of Binary Trees
const int MAX_NODES = 100; // maximum number of nodes
typedef string TreeItemType;
class TreeNode { // node in the tree
private:
TreeNode();
TreeNode(const TreeItemType& nodeItem, int left, int right);

TreeItemType item; // data portion

int leftChild; // index to left child
int rightChild; // index to right child
// friend class - can access private parts
friend class BinaryTree;
};

// An array of tree nodes

TreeNode[MAX_NODES] tree;
int root;
int free;
CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 26
 An Array-Based Implementation (cont.)

• A free list keeps track of available nodes.

• To insert a new node into the tree, we first

obtain an available node from the free list.

• When we delete a node from the tree, we

have to place into the free list so that we
can use it later.

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 27

 An Array-Based Representation of
a Complete Binary Tree
• If we know that our binary tree is a complete binary tree, we can use a simpler
array-based representation for complete binary trees
• without using leftChild, rightChild links

• We can number the nodes level by level, and left to right (starting from 0, the root
will be 0). If a node is numbered as i, in the ith location of the array, tree[i],
contains this node without links.

• Using these numbers we can find leftChild, rightChild, and parent of a node i.

The left child (if it exists) of node i is tree[2*i+1]

The right child (if it exists) of node i is tree[2*i+2]

The parent (if it exists) of node i is tree[(i-1)/2]

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 An Array-Based Representation of a Complete Binary
Tree (cont.)

1 2

3 4 5

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Pointer-Based Implementation of Binary Trees

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 A Pointer-Based Implementation of
a Binary Tree Node
typedef string TreeItemType;

class TreeNode { // node in the tree

private:
TreeNode() {}
TreeNode(const TreeItemType& nodeItem,
TreeNode *left = NULL,
TreeNode *right = NULL)
:item(nodeItem),leftChildPtr(left),rightChildPtr(right) {}

TreeItemType item; // data portion

TreeNode *leftChildPtr; // pointer to left child
TreeNode *rightChildPtr; // pointer to right child

friend class BinaryTree;

};

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 Binary Tree – TreeException.h
class TreeException : public exception{

private:
string msg;

public:
virtual const char* what() const throw()
{
return msg.c_str();
}
TreeException(const string & message =""):
exception(), msg(message) {};
~TreeException() throw() {};

}; // end TreeException

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 32

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 33
 The BinaryTree Class
• Properties
– TreeNode * root

• Constructors
– BinaryTree();
– BinaryTree(const TreeItemType& rootItem);
– BinaryTree(const TreeItemType& rootItem,
BinaryTree& leftTree, BinaryTree& rightTree);
– BinaryTree(const BinaryTree& tree);
void copyTree(TreeNode *treePtr, TreeNode* & newTreePtr) const;

• Destructor
– ~BinaryTree();
void destroyTree(TreeNode * &treePtr);

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 34

 BinaryTree: Public Methods
• bool isEmpty()
• TreeItemType rootData() const throw(TreeException)
• void setRootData(const TreeItemType& newItem)
• void attachLeft(const TreeItemType& newItem)
• void attachRight(const TreeItemType& newItem)
• void attachLeftSubtree(BinaryTree& leftTree)
• void attachRightSubtree(BinaryTree& rightTree)
• void detachLeftSubtree(BinaryTree& leftTree)
• void detachRightSubtree(BinaryTree& rightTree)
• BinaryTree leftSubtree()
• BinaryTree rightSubtree()
• void preorderTraverse(FunctionType visit_fn)
• void inorderTraverse(FunctionType visit_fn)
• void postorderTraverse(FunctionType visit_fn)
• FunctionType is a pointer to a function:
• typedef void (*FunctionType)(TreeItemType& anItem);

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 BinaryTree: Implementation
• The complete implementation is in your textbook
• In class, we will go through only some methods
– Skipping straightforward methods
• Such as isEmpty, rootData, and setRootData functions
– Skipping some details
• Such as throwing exceptions

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 36

// Default constructor
BinaryTree::BinaryTree() : root(NULL) {

// Protected constructor
BinaryTree::BinaryTree(TreeNode *nodePtr) : root(nodePtr) {

// Constructor
BinaryTree::BinaryTree(const TreeItemType& rootItem) {
root = new TreeNode(rootItem, NULL, NULL);
}

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 37

// Constructor
BinaryTree::BinaryTree(const TreeItemType& rootItem,
BinaryTree& leftTree, BinaryTree& rightTree) {
root = new TreeNode(rootItem, NULL, NULL);
attachLeftSubtree(leftTree);
attachRightSubtree(rightTree);
}

void BinaryTree::attachLeftSubtree(BinaryTree& leftTree) {

// Assertion: nonempty tree; no left child
if (!isEmpty() && (root->leftChildPtr == NULL)) {
root->leftChildPtr = leftTree.root;
leftTree.root = NULL
}
}

void BinaryTree::attachRightSubtree(BinaryTree& rightTree) {

// Left as an exercise
}

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 38

// Copy constructor
BinaryTree::BinaryTree(const BinaryTree& tree) {
copyTree(tree.root, root);
}

// Uses preorder traversal for the copy operation

// (Visits first the node and then the left and right children)
void BinaryTree::copyTree(TreeNode *treePtr, TreeNode *& newTreePtr) const {

if (treePtr != NULL) { // copy node

newTreePtr = new TreeNode(treePtr->item, NULL, NULL);
copyTree(treePtr->leftChildPtr, newTreePtr->leftChildPtr);
copyTree(treePtr->rightChildPtr, newTreePtr->rightChildPtr);
}
else
newTreePtr = NULL; // copy empty tree
}

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 39

// Destructor
BinaryTree::~BinaryTree() {
destroyTree(root);
}

// Uses postorder traversal for the destroy operation

// (Visits first the left and right children and then the node)
void BinaryTree::destroyTree(TreeNode *& treePtr) {

if (treePtr != NULL){
destroyTree(treePtr->leftChildPtr);
destroyTree(treePtr->rightChildPtr);
delete treePtr;
treePtr = NULL;
}
}

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 40

 Binary Tree Traversals
• Preorder Traversal
– The node is visited before its left and right subtrees,

• Postorder Traversal
– The node is visited after both subtrees.

• Inorder Traversal
– The node is visited between the subtrees,
– Visit left subtree, visit the node, and visit the right subtree.

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 41

Binary Tree Traversals

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 42

void BinaryTree::preorderTraverse(FunctionType visit) {
preorder(root, visit);
}
void BinaryTree::inorderTraverse(FunctionType visit) {
inorder(root, visit);
}
void BinaryTree::postorderTraverse(FunctionType visit) {
postorder(root, visit);
}
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Remember that:
FunctionType is a pointer to a function
• Variables that point to the address of a function
• typedef void (*FunctionType)(TreeItemType& anItem);

Example of using inorderTraverse function:

• void display(TreeItemType& anItem) { cout << anItem << endl; }
• BinaryTree T1;
T1.inorderTraverse(display);

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 43

void BinaryTree::preorder(TreeNode *treePtr, FunctionType visit) {
if (treePtr != NULL) {
visit(treePtr->item);
preorder(treePtr->leftChildPtr, visit);
preorder(treePtr->rightChildPtr, visit);
}
}

void BinaryTree::inorder(TreeNode *treePtr, FunctionType visit) {

if (treePtr != NULL) {
inorder(treePtr->leftChildPtr, visit);
visit(treePtr->item);
inorder(treePtr->rightChildPtr, visit);
}
}

void BinaryTree::postorder(TreeNode *treePtr, FunctionType visit) {

if (treePtr != NULL) {
postorder(treePtr->leftChildPtr, visit);
postorder(treePtr->rightChildPtr, visit);
visit(treePtr->item);
}
} CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 44
 Complexity of Traversals
What is the complexity of each traversal type?

• Preorder traversal

• Postorder traversal

• Inorder traversal

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 45

 Binary Search Tree
• An important application of binary trees is their use in searching.

• Binary search tree is a binary tree in which every node X contains a

data value that satisfies the following:
a) all data values in its left subtree are smaller than data value in X
b) all data values in its right subtree are larger than data value in X
c) the left and right subtrees are also binary search trees

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 46

 Binary Search Tree
6 6

2 8 2 8

1 4 1 4

3 3 7

A binary search tree Not a binary search tree,

but a binary tree Why?

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 47

Binary Search Trees – containing same data

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 48

BinarySearchTree Class – UML Diagram

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 49

 The KeyedItem Class
typedef desired-type-of-search-key KeyType;

class KeyedItem {
public:
KeyedItem() { }
KeyedItem(const KeyType& keyValue) : searchKey(keyValue) { }

KeyType getKey() const {

return searchKey;
}

private:
KeyType searchKey;
// ... and other data items
};

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 50

 The TreeNode Class
typedef KeyedItem TreeItemType;

class TreeNode { // a node in the tree

private:
TreeNode() { }
TreeNode(const TreeItemType& nodeItem,TreeNode *left = NULL,
TreeNode *right = NULL)
: item(nodeItem), leftChildPtr(left), rightChildPtr(right){ }

TreeItemType item; // a data item in the tree

TreeNode *leftChildPtr; // pointers to children
TreeNode *rightChildPtr;

// friend class - can access private parts

friend class BinarySearchTree;
};
CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 51
 The BinarySearchTree Class
• Properties
– TreeNode * root

• Constructors
– BinarySearchTree();
– BinarySearchTree(const BinarySearchTree& tree);

• Destructor
– ~BinarySearchTree();

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 52

 The BinarySearchTree Class
• Public methods

– bool isEmpty() const;

– void searchTreeRetrieve(KeyType searchKey, TreeItemType& item);

– void searchTreeInsert(const TreeItemType& newItem);
– void searchTreeDelete(KeyType searchKey);

– void preorderTraverse(FunctionType visit);

– void inorderTraverse(FunctionType visit);
– void postorderTraverse(FunctionType visit);

– BinarySearchTree& operator=(const BinarySearchTree& rhs);

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 53

 The BinarySearchTree Class
• Protected methods

– void retrieveItem(TreeNode *treePtr, KeyType searchKey,

TreeItemType& item);

– void insertItem(TreeNode * &treePtr,const TreeItemType& item);

– void deleteItem(TreeNode * &treePtr, KeyType searchKey);

– void deleteNodeItem(TreeNode * &nodePtr);
– void processLeftmost(TreeNode * &nodePtr, TreeItemType& item);

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 54

 Searching (Retrieving) an Item in a BST
void BinarySearchTree::searchTreeRetrieve(KeyType searchKey,
TreeItemType& treeItem) const throw(TreeException) {
retrieveItem(root, searchKey, treeItem);
}

void BinarySearchTree::retrieveItem(TreeNode *treePtr, KeyType searchKey,

TreeItemType& treeItem) const throw(TreeException) {

if (treePtr == NULL)
throw TreeException("TreeException: searchKey not found");
else if (searchKey == treePtr->item.getKey())
treeItem = treePtr->item;
else if (searchKey < treePtr->item.getKey())
retrieveItem(treePtr->leftChildPtr, searchKey, treeItem);
else
retrieveItem(treePtr->rightChildPtr, searchKey, treeItem);
}

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 Inserting an Item into a BST

Insert 5

Search determines the insertion point.

6

2 8

1 4

3 5

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 Inserting an Item into a BST
void BinarySearchTree::searchTreeInsert(const TreeItemType& newItem) {
insertItem(root, newItem);
}

void BinarySearchTree::insertItem(TreeNode *& treePtr,

const TreeItemType& newItem) throw(TreeException) {

// Position of insertion found; insert after leaf

if (treePtr == NULL) {
treePtr = new TreeNode(newItem, NULL, NULL);
if (treePtr == NULL)
throw TreeException("TreeException: insert failed");
}
// Else search for the insertion position
else if (newItem.getKey() < treePtr->item.getKey())
insertItem(treePtr->leftChildPtr, newItem);
else
insertItem(treePtr->rightChildPtr, newItem);
}
CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 57
Inserting an Item into a BST

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 58

 Deleting An Item from a BST
• To delete an item from a BST, we have to locate that item in that BST.

• The deleted node can be:

– Case 1 – A leaf node.
– Case 2 – A node with only one child
(with left child or with right child).
– Case 3 – A node with two children.

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 Deletion – Case 1: A Leaf Node
To remove the leaf containing the item, we have to set the pointer in its parent to NULL.

50 50

40 60
🡺
40 60

30 45 70
30 45

42
42

Delete 70 (A leaf node)

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Deletion – Case 2: A Node with only a left child

50
50

40 60
🡺 40 60

30 42 70
30 45 70

42

Delete 45 (A node with only a left child)

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Deletion – Case 2: A Node with only a right child

50
50

🡺 40 70
40 60

30 45
30 45 70

42
42

Delete 60 (A node with only a right child)

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 62

 Deletion – Case 3: A Node with two children
• Locate the inorder successor of the node.

• Copy the item in this node into the node which contains the item which will be deleted.

• Delete the node of the inorder successor.

50 50

40 60 🡺 42 60

70 30 45 70
30 45

42

Delete 40 (A node with two children)

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Deletion – Case 3: A Node with two children

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Deletion – Case 3: A Node with two children

Delete 2

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 Deletion from a BST
void BinarySearchTree::searchTreeDelete(KeyType searchKey)
throw(TreeException) {
deleteItem(root, searchKey);
}

void BinarySearchTree::deleteItem(TreeNode * &treePtr, KeyType searchKey)

throw(TreeException) {
if (treePtr == NULL) // Empty tree
throw TreeException("Delete failed");

// Position of deletion found

else if (searchKey == treePtr->item.getKey())
deleteNodeItem(treePtr);

// Else search for the deletion position

else if (searchKey < treePtr->item.getKey())
deleteItem(treePtr->leftChildPtr, searchKey);
else
deleteItem(treePtr->rightChildPtr, searchKey);
}
CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 66
 Deletion from a BST
void BinarySearchTree::deleteNodeItem(TreeNode * &nodePtr) {
TreeNode *delPtr;
TreeItemType replacementItem;

// (1) Test for a leaf

if ( (nodePtr->leftChildPtr == NULL) &&
(nodePtr->rightChildPtr == NULL) ) {
delete nodePtr;
nodePtr = NULL;
}

// (2) Test for no left child

else if (nodePtr->leftChildPtr == NULL){
delPtr = nodePtr;
nodePtr = nodePtr->rightChildPtr;
delPtr->rightChildPtr = NULL;
delete delPtr;
}
CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 67
 Deletion from a BST

// (3) Test for no right child

else if (nodePtr->rightChildPtr == NULL) {
// ...
// Left as an exercise
}

// (4) There are two children:

// Retrieve and delete the inorder successor
else {
processLeftmost(nodePtr->rightChildPtr, replacementItem);
nodePtr->item = replacementItem;
}

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 68

 Deletion from a BST

void BinarySearchTree::processLeftmost(TreeNode *&nodePtr,

TreeItemType& treeItem){

if (nodePtr->leftChildPtr == NULL) {
treeItem = nodePtr->item;
TreeNode *delPtr = nodePtr;
nodePtr = nodePtr->rightChildPtr;
delPtr->rightChildPtr = NULL; // defense
delete delPtr;
}
else
processLeftmost(nodePtr->leftChildPtr, treeItem);
}

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 69

 Traversals
• The traversals for binary search trees are same as
the traversals for the binary trees.

Theorem: Inorder traversal of a binary search tree will visit

its nodes in sorted search-key order.
Proof: Proof by induction on the height of the binary search tree T.
Basis: h=0 🡺 no nodes are visited, empty list is in sorted order.
Inductive Hypothesis: Assume that the theorem is true for all k, 0≤k<h
Inductive Conclusion: We have to show that the theorem is true for k=h>0. T should be:
Since the lengths of TL and TR are less than h, the theorem holds
for them. All the keys in TL are less than r, and all the keys in TR are
greater than r. In inorder traversal, we visit TL first, then r, and then TR.
Thus, the theorem holds for T with height k=h.

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 70

 Minimum Height
• Complete trees and full trees have minimum height.
• The height of an n-node binary search tree ranges
from ⎡log2(n+1)⎤ to n.

• Insertion in search-key order produces a maximum-height BST.

• Insertion in random order produces a near-minimum-height BST.

• That is, the height of an n-node binary search tree

– Best Case – ⎡log2(n+1)⎤ 🡺 O(log2n)
– Worst Case – n 🡺 O(n)
– Average Case – close to ⎡log2(n+1)⎤ 🡺 O(log2n)

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 71

 Average Height
• If we insert n items into an empty BST to create a BST with n nodes,
– How many different binary search trees with n nodes?
– What are their probabilities?

• There are n! different orderings of n keys.

– But how many different binary search trees with n nodes?
n=0 🡺 1 BST (empty tree)
n=1 🡺 1 BST (a binary tree with a single node)
n=2 🡺 2 BSTs
n=3 🡺 5 BSTs
∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙
When n=3
∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙
∙ ∙ ∙ ∙
Probabilities: 1/6 1/6 2/6 1/6 1/6
Insertion Order: 3,2,1 3,1,2 2,1,3 1,3,2 1,2,3
CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 2,3,1 72
Order of Operations on BSTs

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 73

 Treesort
• We can use a binary search tree to sort an array.

// Sorts n integers in an array anArray into

// ascending order
treesort(inout anArray:ArrayType, in n:integer)

Insert anArray’s elements into a binary search tree bTree

Traverse bTree in inorder. As you visit bTree’s nodes, copy their data items into
successive locations of anArray

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 74

 Treesort Analysis
• Inserting an item into a binary search tree:
– Worst Case: O(n)
– Average Case: O(log2n)
• Inserting n items into a binary search tree:
– Worst Case: O(n2) 🡺 (1+2+...+n) = O(n2)
– Average Case: O(n*log2n)
• Inorder traversal and copy items back into array 🡺 O(n)
• Thus, treesort is
🡺 O(n2) in worst case, and
🡺 O(n*log2n) in average case.
• Treesort makes exactly same key comparisons of keys as does
quicksort when the pivot for each sublist is chosen to be the first key

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 75

 Saving a BST into a file and
restoring it to its original shape
• Save:
– Use a preorder traversal to save the nodes of the BST into a file

• Restore:
– Start with an empty BST
– Read the nodes from the file one by one and insert them
into the BST

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 Saving a BST into a file and
restoring it to its original shape

Preorder: 60 20 10 40 30 50 70

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 77

 Saving a BST into a file and
restoring it to a minimum-height BST
• Save:
– Use an inorder traversal to save the nodes of the BST into a file. The
saved nodes will be in ascending order
– Save the number of nodes (n) in somewhere

• Restore:
– Read the number of nodes (n)
– Start with an empty BST
– Read the nodes from the file one by one to create a
minimum-height binary search tree

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 78

 Building a minimum-height BST
// Builds a minimum-height binary search tree from n sorted
// values in a file. treePtr will point to the tree’s root.
readTree(out treePtr:TreeNodePtr, in n:integer)

if (n>0) {
treePtr = pointer to new node with NULL child pointers

// construct the left subtree

readTree(treePtr->leftChildPtr, n/2)

// get the root

Read item from file into treePtr->item

// construct the right subtree

readTree(treePtr->rightChildPtr, (n-1)/2)
}
CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 79
A full tree saved in a file by using inorder traversal

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 80

A General Tree

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 81

A Pointer-Based Implementation of General Trees

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 82

A Pointer-Based Implementation of General Trees

A pointer-based implementation of
a general tree can also represent
a binary tree.

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 83

 N-ary Tree
An n-ary tree is a generalization of a binary whose
nodes each can have no more than n children.

CS202 - Fundamentals of Computer Science II 84