Binary Tree-

Binary tree is a special tree data structure in which each node can have at most 2 children.
Thus, in a binary tree,
Each node has either 0 child or 1 child or 2 children.

Example-

Unlabeled Binary Tree-

A binary tree is unlabeled if its nodes are not assigned any label.
 Example-

Consider we want to draw all the binary trees possible with 3 unlabeled nodes.
Using the above formula, we have-

Number of binary trees possible with 3 unlabeled nodes

= 2 x 3C3 / (3 + 1)
= 6C3 / 4
=5

Thus,
• With 3 unlabeled nodes, 5 unlabeled binary trees are possible.
• These unlabeled binary trees are as follows-

Labeled Binary Tree-

A binary tree is labeled if all its nodes are assigned a label.

 Example-

Consider we want to draw all the binary trees possible with 3 labeled nodes.
Using the above formula, we have-

Number of binary trees possible with 3 labeled nodes

= { 2 x 3C3 / (3 + 1) } x 3!
= { 6C3 / 4 } x 6
=5x6
= 30

Thus,
• With 3 labeled nodes, 30 labeled binary trees are possible.
• Each unlabeled structure gives rise to 3! = 6 different labeled structures.
 Similarly,
• Every other unlabeled structure gives rise to 6 different labeled structures.
• Thus, in total 30 different labeled binary trees are possible.

Types of Binary Trees-

Binary trees can be of the following types-

1. Rooted Binary Tree
2. Full / Strictly Binary Tree
3. Complete / Perfect Binary Tree
4. Almost Complete Binary Tree
5. Skewed Binary Tree

1. Rooted Binary Tree-

A rooted binary tree is a binary tree that satisfies the following 2 properties-
• It has a root node.
• Each node has at most 2 children.

Example-
 2. Full / Strictly Binary Tree-

• A binary tree in which every node has either 0 or 2 children is called as a Full binary
tree.
• Full binary tree is also called as Strictly binary tree.

Example-
 Here,
• First binary tree is not a full binary tree.
• This is because node C has only 1 child.

3. Complete / Perfect Binary Tree-

A complete binary tree is a binary tree that satisfies the following 2 properties-
• Every internal node has exactly 2 children.
• All the leaf nodes are at the same level.

Complete binary tree is also called as Perfect binary tree.

Example-

Here,
• First binary tree is not a complete binary tree.
• This is because all the leaf nodes are not at the same level.

4. Almost Complete Binary Tree-

An almost complete binary tree is a binary tree that satisfies the following 2 properties-
• All the levels are completely filled except possibly the last level.
• The last level must be strictly filled from left to right.
 Example-

Here,
• First binary tree is not an almost complete binary tree.
• This is because the last level is not filled from left to right.

5. Skewed Binary Tree-

A skewed binary tree is a binary tree that satisfies the following 2 properties-
• All the nodes except one node has one and only one child.
• The remaining node has no child.
OR
A skewed binary tree is a binary tree of n nodes such that its depth is (n-1).

Example-
 Binary Search Tree Operations-

Commonly performed operations on binary search tree are-

1. Search Operation
2. Insertion Operation
3. Deletion Operation

1. Search Operation-

Search Operation is performed to search a particular element in the Binary Search Tree.

Rules-

For searching a given key in the BST,

• Compare the key with the value of root node.
• If the key is present at the root node, then return the root node.
• If the key is greater than the root node value, then recur for the root node’s right
subtree.
• If the key is smaller than the root node value, then recur for the root node’s left
subtree.

Example-

Consider key = 45 has to be searched in the given BST-

• We start our search from the root node 25.
• As 45 > 25, so we search in 25’s right subtree.
• As 45 < 50, so we search in 50’s left subtree.
• As 45 > 35, so we search in 35’s right subtree.
• As 45 > 44, so we search in 44’s right subtree but 44 has no subtrees.
• So, we conclude that 45 is not present in the above BST.

2. Insertion Operation-

Insertion Operation is performed to insert an element in the Binary Search Tree.

Rules-

The insertion of a new key always takes place as the child of some leaf node.
For finding out the suitable leaf node,
• Search the key to be inserted from the root node till some leaf node is reached.
• Once a leaf node is reached, insert the key as child of that leaf node.

Example-
 Consider the following example where key = 40 is inserted in the given BST-

• We start searching for value 40 from the root node 100.

• As 40 < 100, so we search in 100’s left subtree.
• As 40 > 20, so we search in 20’s right subtree.
• As 40 > 30, so we add 40 to 30’s right subtree.

3. Deletion Operation-

Deletion Operation is performed to delete a particular element from the Binary Search Tree.

When it comes to deleting a node from the binary search tree, following three cases are
possible-

Case-01: Deletion Of A Node Having No Child (Leaf Node)-

Just remove / disconnect the leaf node that is to deleted from the tree.

Example-

Consider the following example where node with value = 20 is deleted from the BST-
 Case-02: Deletion Of A Node Having Only One Child-

Just make the child of the deleting node, the child of its grandparent.

Example-

Consider the following example where node with value = 30 is deleted from the BST-

Case-02: Deletion Of A Node Having Two Children-

A node with two children may be deleted from the BST in the following two ways-

Method-01:

• Visit to the right subtree of the deleting node.

• Pluck the least value element called as inorder successor.
• Replace the deleting element with its inorder successor.
 Example-

Consider the following example where node with value = 15 is deleted from the BST-

Method-02:

• Visit to the left subtree of the deleting node.

• Pluck the greatest value element called as inorder predecessor.
• Replace the deleting element with its inorder predecessor.

Example-

Consider the following example where node with value = 15 is deleted from the BST-
 Time Complexity-

• Time complexity of all BST Operations = O(h).

• Here, h = Height of binary search tree

Now, let us discuss the worst case and best case.

BST Traversal-

• A binary search tree is traversed in exactly the same way a binary tree is traversed.
• In other words, BST traversal is same as binary tree traversal.

Example-

Consider the following binary search tree-

Now, let us write the traversal sequences for this binary search tree-
 Preorder Traversal-

100 , 20 , 10 , 30 , 200 , 150 , 300

Inorder Traversal-

10 , 20 , 30 , 100 , 150 , 200 , 300

Postorder Traversal-

10 , 30 , 20 , 150 , 300 , 200 , 100

Important Notes-

Note-01:

• Inorder traversal of a binary search tree always yields all the nodes in increasing
order.

Note-02:

Unlike Binary Trees,

• A binary search tree can be constructed using only preorder or only postorder
traversal result.
• This is because inorder traversal can be obtained by sorting the given result in
increasing order.

To gain better understanding about Binary Search Tree Traversal,

 1PRACTICE PROBLEMS BASED ON BST
TRAVERSAL-

Problem-01:

Suppose the numbers 7 , 5 , 1 , 8 , 3 , 6 , 0 , 9 , 4 , 2 are inserted in that order into an

initially empty binary search tree. The binary search tree uses the usual ordering on
natural numbers.
What is the inorder traversal sequence of the resultant tree?
1. 7 , 5 , 1 , 0 , 3 , 2 , 4 , 6 , 8 , 9
2. 0 , 2 , 4 , 3 , 1 , 6 , 5 , 9 , 8 , 7
3. 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9
4. 9 , 8 , 6 , 4 , 2 , 3 , 0 , 1 , 5 , 7

Solution-

This given problem may be solved in the following two ways-

Method-01:

• We construct a binary search tree for the given elements.

• We write the inorder traversal sequence from the binary search tree so obtained.

Following these steps, we have-

 Thus, Option (C) is correct.

Method-02:

We know, inorder traversal of a binary search tree always yields all the nodes in
increasing order.

Using this result,

• We arrange all the given elements in increasing order.
• Then, we report the sequence so obtained as inorder traversal sequence.

Inorder Traversal :
0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9

Thus, Option (C) is correct.

 Problem-02:

The preorder traversal sequence of a binary search tree is-

30 , 20 , 10 , 15 , 25 , 23 , 39 , 35 , 42
What one of the following is the postorder traversal sequence of the same tree?
1. 10 , 20 , 15 , 23 , 25 , 35 , 42 , 39 , 30
2. 15 , 10 , 25 , 23 , 20 , 42 , 35 , 39 , 30
3. 15 , 20 , 10 , 23 , 25 , 42 , 35 , 39 , 30
4. 15 , 10 , 23 , 25 , 20 , 35 , 42 , 39 , 30

Solution-

In this question,
• We are provided with the preorder traversal sequence.
• We write the inorder traversal sequence by arranging all the numbers in ascending
order.

Then-
• Postorder Traversal : 30 , 20 , 10 , 15 , 25 , 23 , 39 , 35 , 42
• Inorder Traversal : 10 , 15 , 20 , 23 , 25 , 30 , 35 , 39 , 42

Now,
• We draw a binary search tree using these traversal results.
• The binary search tree so obtained is as shown-
Now, we write the postorder traversal sequence-

Postorder Traversal :
15 , 10 , 23 , 25, 20, 35, 42, 39, 30