Trees in a layman’s language forms an integral part of our life. You see them daily around your houses or at your workplace.
But do you know the term “ tree” forms an integral part in programming languages too? After reading this article, the term tree will have more than just one meaning for you.
The tree in programming terms is a system in which you can systematically store the data. There are various types of trees that can be used to organize the data appropriately. However, the binary tree is one of the most important and generally used ones.
Binary trees are trees that have different child nodes attached to both ends.
Let’s make it simpler for you as we are going to explain in detail what binary trees are and how they are used for various tasks.
We will also cover various technical terms used while working with binary trees such as boundary traversal of binary tree, bottom view of a binary tree, right view of a binary tree, and others to make this concept clear to you.
What are Binary Trees?
A binary tree is simply a tree-like data structure that comes with two different nodes. These nodes are attached to the root or the top of this tree which you can easily find with the help of the top or bottom view of the binary tree.
The two nodes are called the right child and the left child based on their placement. However, if a node is not attached to any child node at a certain instant, it will be called a leaf node.
The major advantage of using binary trees over any other form of data structure is that you can store the data based on hierarchy. This way, you can search various data easily and sort it efficiently.
You can apply various common and specific functions on binary trees to make your work convenient. Though, first, you need to learn the basic terminology associated with binary trees.
We have explained major technical terms and important concepts below in a simpler manner for you.
Binary trees- Terminology
Following are the terms usually used while dealing with binary trees for various functions:
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Boundary traversal of binary tree
As the name suggests, the boundary traversal of a binary tree covers the boundaries of the tree. This means if you cover the boundary nodes from the left side to the right side anticlockwise, the path formed indicates the boundary transversal of the binary tree.
This transversal consists of various components including the left boundary, right boundary, and the leaves of a given binary tree. You can easily observe the structure of the binary tree and its boundaries with this transverse.
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Bottom view of binary tree
In simple words, the bottom view of binary tree denotes all the nodes available at the bottom of the binary tree. These bottom nodes are present at a horizontal distance from the root or main node of the binary tree.
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Horizontal distance
The distance of a specific node from the root node is considered the horizontal distance. You can easily calculate the horizontal distance of the node by its placement in the tree.
The horizontal distance for the root is always taken as zero whereas, for the left node, it is taken as parent node distance-1. Similarly, you can calculate the same for the right node by adding 1 in the parent node distance.
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Right/left view of binary tree
The right or left view of the binary tree indicates the nodes that are visible as if a person is standing to the right or left-hand side of the tree.
Simply, the placement of nodes to the right or left can be resolved from respective views to perform different functions.
You must be thinking, what is the purpose of learning these terms? The answer is to learn various functions you can perform on binary trees. The next part of this article covers how binary trees are used and why.
Application of Binary Trees
There are various functions that can be applied to binary trees. So, let’s discuss the most used and significant functions of binary trees.
The following are the most significant application of binary trees:
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Data storage
Binary trees are widely used to store data in an organized manner. Various platforms and applications including MS Excel store data via binary trees.
Binary trees store data in a hierarchical form which makes the storage and searching process efficient for the system.
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Decision-making process
The binary tree data structures are generally used to improve the decision-making process. As with this type of data structure you can easily fetch the necessary data and act on the problem statements quickly.
The decision binary tree is started with a root node and is further attached with nodes that store the conditions or datasets. Each node is connected to the other by a decision rule. This leads to a better and quick decision.
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Data sorting
One of the types of binary trees used by programmers is the binary search tree. With a binary search tree, you can easily apply various sorting algorithms to this data structure type.
This sorting algorithm makes it easier and quicker to manage the data based on different parameters. Once the data is sorted via binary tree, it becomes more convenient in analyzing and using the data of nodes.
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Used for databases
The B-trees which are specified for the database indexing are used to store and use the data in a smart way. You can perform various functions including searching, insertion and deleting any specific data from a child node.
Each binary tree node has indices created by the database. These internal nodes contain various records and information about the data and address.
Conclusion
Implementing various functions on Binary trees can help you to organize and store data efficiently. You can also perform basic functions such as deletion, insertion, etc. On the binary trees.
But, before jumping to the application, make sure you go through the basic concepts such as boundary transversal of a binary tree, the bottom view of a binary tree, and others to make an efficient structure.
Hopefully, now you have understood these terms in a better way!
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