Introduction to

Binary Trees
Binary trees are a fundamental data structure in computer science, renowned for their
efficiency in organizing and retrieving information. They are hierarchical structures
where each node can have up to two child nodes, referred to as the left child and the
right child. This structure is particularly useful for representing data with inherent
hierarchical relationships, such as file systems, family trees, and decision trees.
Classification of Binary
trees
Binary trees can be classified based on several criteria. One common
classification is based on the height of the tree, which can be either
balanced or unbalanced. In a balanced binary tree, the height
difference between the left and right subtrees of any node is at most
one, while an unbalanced binary tree can have a significant difference
in height between its subtrees.
Depth-First Traversal
1 Preorder Traversal
/In preorder traversal, we visit the root node first, followed by the left subtree, and
finally the right subtree. This order is often used for constructing a copy of the tree or
for evaluating expressions.

2 Inorder Traversal
Inorder traversal visits the left subtree, then the root node, and finally the right
subtree. This order is commonly used for sorting elements in a binary search tree.

3 Postorder Traversal
Postorder traversal explores the left subtree, then the right subtree, and finally the
root node. This order is frequently used for deleting nodes in a binary tree or for
evaluating expressions in reverse Polish notation.
Pre-Order Traversal
Pre-order traversal is a depth-first traversal algorithm for binary trees. The order of visiting the nodes is:

1. Visit the root node

2. Traverse the left subtree
3. Traverse the right subtree

This means that in a pre-order traversal, the root node is always visited first, before any of its child nodes. This allows you to get a
top-down view of the tree structure.

The pre-order traversal algorithm can be implemented recursively or iteratively. The recursive implementation is often the easiest
to understand:

def preorder_recursive(root):
if root:
print(root.data)
preorder_recursive(root.left)
preorder_recursive(root.right)

The iterative implementation uses a stack to keep track of the nodes to visit. This allows you to traverse the tree without using
recursion:

def preorder_iterative(root):
if not root:
return
stack = [root]
while stack:
node = stack.pop()
print(node.data)
Inorder Traversal
Left Subtree Sorted Order Applications
First
When applied to a Inorder traversal is
The inorder traversal binary search tree, widely used in binary
prioritizes visiting the inorder traversal search trees for tasks
left subtree first, outputs the nodes in a such as searching,
followed by the root sorted order. This sorting, and retrieving
node, and then the property is essential elements in a specific
right subtree. This for various order. It's also
ordering is critical for applications, including valuable for
maintaining the sorted searching and sorting generating ordered
property of binary elements. lists or sequences
search trees. from the data stored in
the tree.
Postorder Traversal

Left Subtree First Root Last Recursive Approach

The postorder traversal The postorder traversal The postorder traversal can
visits the left subtree first, algorithm prioritizes be effectively implemented
followed by the right visiting the root node last. using recursion. The
subtree, and finally the root This ensures that the root recursive function explores
node. This order is often node is processed only after the tree, visiting the left
used for deleting nodes in a its descendants, which is subtree, then the right
binary tree or for evaluating essential for certain tasks subtree, and finally the root
expressions in reverse like deleting nodes. node in that order.
Polish notation.
Breadth-First Traversal

Level-by-Level Queue Data Structure

In breadth-first traversal, we visit the nodes level by Breadth-first traversal is commonly implemented
level, starting from the root node and moving down using a queue data structure. The nodes are added to
the tree in a horizontal manner. This approach ensures the queue in level order, and the algorithm dequeues a
that all nodes at a given level are visited before node and processes its children.
moving to the next level.

Applications Example
Breadth-first traversal is widely used in applications Consider a binary tree representing a network of
such as finding the shortest path between two nodes, computers. Breadth-first traversal can be used to find
checking if a tree is a complete binary tree, and level the shortest path from a source computer to all other
order traversal of the tree. computers in the network.
Level-Order Traversal
Level Nodes

1 A

2 B, C

3 D, E, F

4 G,H, I, J
Applications of Binary Tree Traversal
File Systems Game Trees Expression Evaluation
Binary trees are commonly used to In game theory, binary trees are used to Binary trees can be used to represent
represent file systems, where each node represent game trees. Each node in the mathematical expressions. The traversal
represents a directory or a file. Traversal tree represents a possible game state, and algorithms can be used to evaluate the
algorithms can be used to navigate the traversal algorithms can be used to expressions, converting them from infix
through the file system and perform evaluate the game tree and determine the notation to postfix notation, or vice
operations like listing files, searching for optimal move for a player. versa.
specific files, or deleting files and
directories.

Search Engines
Binary search trees are used extensively in search engines to store and retrieve data efficiently. Traversal algorithms can be used to search for
specific keywords or phrases within a large dataset.
Recursive Traversal
Algorithms
Recursive traversal algorithms are commonly used for binary trees. They involve
calling a function recursively on each node of the tree, visiting the root node, its left
subtree, and then its right subtree.
Iterative Traversal
Algorithms
Iterative traversal algorithms, on the other hand, use loops and data structures like
stacks or queues to traverse the tree. They eliminate the overhead of recursion and
can be more efficient in certain scenarios.