Hierarchical data structures that are widely used in computer science.
Tree data structures are hierarchical structures that consist of nodes connected by edges. Each tree has a root node, and every node (except the root) has exactly one parent node. Nodes can have zero or more child nodes.
Trees are widely used in computer science for organizing and storing data in a way that allows for efficient insertion, deletion, and search operations. They are particularly useful for representing hierarchical relationships.
Common types of trees include binary trees (where each node has at most two children), binary search trees (where left children are less than the parent and right children are greater), AVL trees (self-balancing binary search trees), and B-trees (used in databases and file systems).
Tree traversal algorithms are methods for visiting each node in a tree exactly once. The three most common traversal methods are in-order (left-root-right), pre-order (root-left-right), and post-order (left-right-root).
Trees have numerous applications, including expression parsing, decision making, file systems, database indexing, and network routing. They are fundamental to many algorithms and data structures in computer science.