/binary_trees

C - Data Structures: Binary Trees

Primary LanguageCGNU General Public License v3.0GPL-3.0

Binary Trees

C, Binary Trees, Algorithms & Data Structures

Binary Trees are data structures consisting of nodes connected through edges. Each node in a binary tree can have at most two child nodes, referred to as the left child and the right child.
This project could potentially be extended to cover Binary Heap, Binary Search Trees, and AVL Tree.

Features and Characteristics

Feature Description
Root Node The topmost node of a binary tree is called the root node. It serves as the starting point for traversing the tree.
Child Nodes Each node in a binary tree can have at most two child nodes: a left child and a right child.
Parent Nodes Nodes that have child nodes are referred to as parent nodes.
Leaf Nodes Nodes that do not have any child nodes are called leaf nodes or terminal nodes.
Binary Search Property In a binary search tree, the left child of a node contains a value less than the node itself, while the right child contains a value greater than the node.
Traversal Binary trees can be traversed in different ways, such as in-order, pre-order, and post-order traversal, to access or process the nodes in a specific order.

Implementation

Binary Trees can be implemented in C using structs. Each node typically contains a value and references to its left and right children.

Basic Binary Tree:

/**
 * struct binary_tree_s - Binary tree node
 *
 * @n: Integer stored in the node
 * @parent: Pointer to the parent node
 * @left: Pointer to the left child node
 * @right: Pointer to the right child node
 */
struct binary_tree_s
{
    int n;
    struct binary_tree_s *parent;
    struct binary_tree_s *left;
    struct binary_tree_s *right;
};

typedef struct binary_tree_s binary_tree_t;

Compilation:

Sample compilation for creating a new node, and running the executables.

gcc -Wall -Wextra -Werror -pedantic binary_tree_print.c 0-main.c 0-binary_tree_node.c -o 0-node && ./0-node

Applications

Note
Binary Trees have various applications, including:

Searching: Binary search trees offer efficient searching capabilities, as they allow for quick lookup and retrieval of values.
Sorting: Binary trees can be used to efficiently sort data by inserting elements into the tree and then performing an in-order traversal to retrieve them in sorted order.
Hierarchical Structures: Binary trees are used to represent hierarchical structures like file systems, organization charts, and family trees.
Expression Evaluation: Binary expression trees are used to parse and evaluate mathematical expressions.

Authors:

You can find the developers/contributors to this project in the AUTHORS file.