Tree

How it is used

Common types are binary trees, binary search trees and the DOM tree in browsers. You traverse or walk a tree, often with recursion. Nodes without children are called leaves. Trees are drawn upside down, with the root at the top.

Example sentences

1. The category menu is stored as a tree, so subcategories can go as deep as needed.

2. Write a function that returns the depth of a binary tree.

Common collocations

• binary tree
• traverse a tree
• root node
• tree structure

Related terms

• data structureA way of organizing data in memory, such as an array, list, tree or hash map, so that certain operations are fast and simple.
• recursionA technique where a function solves a problem by calling itself on a smaller part of the same problem until it reaches a simple case.
• binary searchA fast way to find a value in a sorted list by checking the middle item and repeatedly throwing away the half where the value cannot be.
• linked listA data structure made of nodes, where each node holds a value and a pointer to the next node, so items are connected in a chain instead of stored side by side.

More terms: Data Structures and Algorithms

• algorithm
• array
• iterate
• hash map
• Big O notation
• time complexity
• index
• sort
• stack
• queue
• brute force
• space complexity