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Binary Tree Traversal

The document discusses different ways to traverse a binary tree, including in-order, pre-order, and post-order traversal. It provides algorithms for each traversal method and examples of traversing a sample binary tree using each method. It also defines a binary search tree and its basic properties and operations like search, insert, and different traversal methods.

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Raja Ram
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205 views

Binary Tree Traversal

The document discusses different ways to traverse a binary tree, including in-order, pre-order, and post-order traversal. It provides algorithms for each traversal method and examples of traversing a sample binary tree using each method. It also defines a binary search tree and its basic properties and operations like search, insert, and different traversal methods.

Uploaded by

Raja Ram
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Binary Tree Traversal

Traversal is a process to visit all the nodes of a tree and may print their values too.
Because, all nodes are connected via edges (links) we always start from the root
(head) node. That is, we cannot randomly access a node in a tree. There are three
ways which we use to traverse a tree −

 In-order Traversal
 Pre-order Traversal
 Post-order Traversal
Generally, we traverse a tree to search or locate a given item or key in the tree or to
print all the values it contains.

In-order Traversal
In this traversal method, the left subtree is visited first, then the root and later the right
sub-tree. We should always remember that every node may represent a subtree itself.
If a binary tree is traversed in-order, the output will produce sorted key values in an
ascending order.

We start from A, and following in-order traversal, we move to its left subtree B. B is
also traversed in-order. The process goes on until all the nodes are visited. The output
of inorder traversal of this tree will be −
D→B→E→A→F→C→G

Algorithm
Until all nodes are traversed −
Step 1 − Recursively traverse left subtree.
Step 2 − Visit root node.
Step 3 − Recursively traverse right subtree.

Pre-order Traversal
In this traversal method, the root node is visited first, then the left subtree and finally
the right subtree.

We start from A, and following pre-order traversal, we first visit A itself and then move
to its left subtree B. B is also traversed pre-order. The process goes on until all the
nodes are visited. The output of pre-order traversal of this tree will be −
A→B→D→E→C→F→G

Algorithm
Until all nodes are traversed −
Step 1 − Visit root node.
Step 2 − Recursively traverse left subtree.
Step 3 − Recursively traverse right subtree.

Post-order Traversal
In this traversal method, the root node is visited last, hence the name. First we traverse
the left subtree, then the right subtree and finally the root node.
We start from A, and following Post-order traversal, we first visit the left subtree B. B is
also traversed post-order. The process goes on until all the nodes are visited. The
output of post-order traversal of this tree will be −
D→E→B→F→G→C→A

Algorithm
Until all nodes are traversed −
Step 1 − Recursively traverse left subtree.
Step 2 − Recursively traverse right subtree.
Step 3 − Visit root node.

Binary Search Tree


A Binary Search Tree (BST) is a tree in which all the nodes follow the below-mentioned
properties −
 The left sub-tree of a node has a key less than or equal to its parent node's key.
 The right sub-tree of a node has a key greater than to its parent node's key.
Thus, BST divides all its sub-trees into two segments; the left sub-tree and the right
sub-tree and can be defined as −
left_subtree (keys) ≤ node (key) ≤ right_subtree (keys)

Representation
BST is a collection of nodes arranged in a way where they maintain BST properties.
Each node has a key and an associated value. While searching, the desired key is
compared to the keys in BST and if found, the associated value is retrieved.
Following is a pictorial representation of BST −

We observe that the root node key (27) has all less-valued keys on the left sub-tree
and the higher valued keys on the right sub-tree.

Basic Operations
Following are the basic operations of a tree −
 Search − Searches an element in a tree.
 Insert − Inserts an element in a tree.
 Pre-order Traversal − Traverses a tree in a pre-order manner.
 In-order Traversal − Traverses a tree in an in-order manner.
 Post-order Traversal − Traverses a tree in a post-order manner.

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