Topic 19
Binary Search Trees
"Yes. Shrubberies are my trade. I am a
shrubber. My name is 'Roger the Shrubber'. I
arrange, design, and sell shrubberies."
-Monty Python and The Holy Grail
The Problem with Linked Lists
Accessing a item from a linked list takes
O(N) time for an arbitrary element
Binary trees can improve upon this and
reduce access to O(log N) time for the
average case
Expands on the binary search technique and
allows insertions and deletions
Worst case degenerates to O(N) but this can
be avoided by using balanced trees (AVL,
Red-Black)
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Binary Search Trees
A binary search tree is a binary tree in which every
node's left subtree holds values less than the
node's value, and every right subtree holds values
greater than the node's value.
A new node is added as a leaf.
root
parent
17
< >
left child 11 19 right child
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BST Insertion
Add the following values one at a time to an
initially empty binary search tree using the
naïve algorithm:
90 20 9 98 10 28 -25
What is the resulting tree?
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Traversals
What is the result of an inorder traversal of
the resulting tree?
How could a preorder traversal be useful?
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Clicker 1
After adding N distinct elements in random
order to a Binary Search Tree what is the
expected height of the tree? (using the
simple insertion algorithm)
A. O(logN)
B. O(N1/2)
C. O(N)
D. O(NlogN)
E. O(N2)
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Clicker 2
After adding N distinct elements to a Binary
Search Tree what is the worst case height of
the tree? (using the simple insertion
algorithm)
A. O(logN)
B. O(N1/2)
C. O(N)
D. O(NlogN)
E. O(N2)
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Worst Case Performance
Insert the following values into an initially
empty binary search tree using the simple,
naïve algorithm:
2 3 5 7 11 13 17
What is the height of the tree?
What is the worst case height of a BST?
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Node for Binary Search Trees
public class BSTNode<E extends Comparable<E> {
private Comparable<E> myData;
private BSTNode<E> myLeft;
private BSTNode<E> myRightC;
public BinaryNode(E item)
{ myData = item; }
public E getValue()
{ return myData; }
public BinaryNode<E> getLeft()
{ return myLeft; }
public BinaryNode<E> getRight()
{ return myRight; }
public void setLeft(BSTNode<E> b)
{ myLeft = b; }
// setRight not shown
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More on Implementation
Many ways to implement BSTs
Using nodes is just one and even then many
options and choices
public class BinarySearchTree<E extends Comparable<E>> {
private BSTNode<E> root;
private int size;
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Add an Element, Recursive
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Add an Element, Iterative
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Clicker 3
What are the best case and worst case order
to add N distinct elements, one at a time, to
an initially empty binary search tree using the
simple add algorithm?
// given int[] data
Best Worst
// no duplicates in
A. O(N)O(N) // data
BST<Integer> b =
B. O(NlogN) O(NlogN) new BST<Integer>();
for(int x : data)
C. O(N)O(NlogN) [Link](x);
D. O(NlogN) O(N2)
E. O(N2) O(N2)
13
Performance of Binary Trees
For the three core operations (add, access,
remove) a binary search tree (BST) has an
average case performance of O(log N)
Even when using the naïve insertion /
removal algorithms
– no checks to maintain balance
– balance achieved based on the randomness of
the data inserted
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Remove an Element
Three cases
– node is a leaf, 0 children (easy)
– node has 1 child (easy)
– node has 2 children (interesting)
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Properties of a BST
The minimum value is in the left
most node
The maximum value is in the right
most node
– useful when removing an element
from the BST
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Alternate Implementation
In class examples of dynamic data structures
have relied on null terminated ends.
– Use null to show end of list, no children
Alternative form
– use structural recursion and polymorphism
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BST Interface
public interface BST {
public int size();
public boolean contains(Comparable obj);
public boolean add(Comparable obj);
}
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EmptyBST
public class EmptyBST implements BST {
private static EmptyBST theOne = new EmptyBST();
private EmptyBST(){}
public static EmptyBST getEmptyBST(){ return theOne; }
public BST add(Comparable obj) { return new NEBST(obj); }
public boolean contains(Comparable obj) { return false; }
public int size() { return 0; }
}
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Non Empty BST – Part 1
public class NEBST implements BST {
private Comparable data;
private BST left;
private BST right;
public NEBST(Comparable d){
data = d;
right = [Link]();
left = [Link]();
}
public BST add(Comparable obj) {
int val = [Link]( data );
if( val < 0 )
left = [Link]( obj );
else if( val > 0 )
right = [Link]( obj );
return this;
}
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Non Empty BST – Part 2
public boolean contains(Comparable obj){
int val = [Link](data);
if( val == 0 )
return true;
else if (val < 0)
return [Link](obj);
else
return [Link](obj);
}
public int size() {
return 1 + [Link]() + [Link]();
}
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