Introduction to Binary Search Trees
In the first
section, we alluded to the varying
uses of trees, especially in the context of sorting and searching. The
task of sorting consists of taking data and arranging it in some sort of
predetermined order. Searching consists of trying to find a particular
piece of data from the total set of data. As one might expect, searching
is easier once the data have been sorted. For example, if one had a list
of numbers, searching would mean checking whether or not a specific number
is in the list and if it is finding exactly where in the list it is. For
a more comprehensive discussion of sorting and searching, with particular
emphasis on the
complexity of the different sorts and searches, see the
sorting and
searching SparkNotes.
Here
we will be covering binary search trees more from a practical, rather than
a theoretical, perspective.
A binary search tree is one where all of the data in the nodes in the
left subtree come before the data in the current node with regard to some
ordering scheme, and all the nodes in the right subtree come after. This
condition must be true for all of the nodes in the tree. For example:
Figure Q.1: Binary Search Tree
The above is a binary search tree for integers, while the following is not:
Figure Q.2: Binary Search Tree
In a binary search tree, the smallest element will always be the one found
by following the subtrees to the left until you reach a leaf. Similarly,
the largest is found by traveling to the right until a leaf is reached.
In this topic, we will cover both how to build a binary search tree from
a data set as well as how to use it in searching.
Related to this topic is the
heap, a tree in which the root node is
greater than all of its descendants and in which the subtrees are also heaps.
