Find distance from root to given node in a binary tree

Last Updated : 21 Apr, 2025

Given the root of a binary tree and a key x in it, find the distance of the given key from the root. Distance means the number of edges between two nodes.

Examples:

Input: x = 45

Input Binary Tree
Output: 3
Explanation: There are three edges on path from root to 45.
For more understanding of question, in above tree distance of 35 is two
and distance of 10 is 1.

Approach: The idea is to traverse the tree from the root. Check if x is present at the root or in the left subtree or in the right subtree. We initialize distance as -1 and add 1 to distance for all three cases.

Implementation:

C++

// C++ program to find distance of a given
// node from root.
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;

// A Binary Tree Node
struct Node
{
    int data;
    Node *left, *right;
};

// A utility function to create a new Binary
// Tree Node
Node *newNode(int item)
{
    Node *temp = new Node;
    temp->data = item;
    temp->left = temp->right = NULL;
    return temp;
}

// Returns -1 if x doesn't exist in tree. Else
// returns distance of x from root
int findDistance(Node *root, int x)
{
    // Base case
    if (root == NULL)
      return -1;

    // Initialize distance
    int dist = -1;

    // Check if x is present at root or in left
    // subtree or right subtree.
    if ((root->data == x) ||
        (dist = findDistance(root->left, x)) >= 0 ||
        (dist = findDistance(root->right, x)) >= 0)
        return dist + 1;

    return dist;
}

// Driver Program to test above functions
int main()
{
    Node *root = newNode(5);
    root->left = newNode(10);
    root->right = newNode(15);
    root->left->left = newNode(20);
    root->left->right = newNode(25);
    root->left->right->right = newNode(45);
    root->right->left = newNode(30);
    root->right->right = newNode(35);

    cout << findDistance(root, 45);
    return 0;
}

Java

// Java program to find distance of a given 
// node from root. 
import java.util.*;
class GfG {

// A Binary Tree Node 
static class Node 
{ 
    int data; 
    Node left, right; 
}

// A utility function to create a new Binary 
// Tree Node 
static Node newNode(int item) 
{ 
    Node temp = new Node(); 
    temp.data = item; 
    temp.left = null;
    temp.right = null; 
    return temp; 
} 

// Returns -1 if x doesn't exist in tree. Else 
// returns distance of x from root 
static int findDistance(Node root, int x) 
{ 
    // Base case 
    if (root == null) 
    return -1; 

    // Initialize distance 
    int dist = -1; 

    // Check if x is present at root or in left 
    // subtree or right subtree. 
    if ((root.data == x) || 
        (dist = findDistance(root.left, x)) >= 0 || 
        (dist = findDistance(root.right, x)) >= 0) 
        return dist + 1; 

    return dist; 
} 

// Driver Program to test above functions 
public static void main(String[] args) 
{ 
    Node root = newNode(5); 
    root.left = newNode(10); 
    root.right = newNode(15); 
    root.left.left = newNode(20); 
    root.left.right = newNode(25); 
    root.left.right.right = newNode(45); 
    root.right.left = newNode(30); 
    root.right.right = newNode(35); 

    System.out.println(findDistance(root, 45)); 
}
}

Python

# Python3 program to find distance of 
# a given node from root.

# A class to create a new Binary 
# Tree Node 
class newNode:
    def __init__(self, item):
        self.data = item 
        self.left = self.right = None

# Returns -1 if x doesn't exist in tree. 
# Else returns distance of x from root 
def findDistance(root, x):
    
    # Base case 
    if (root == None): 
        return -1

    # Initialize distance 
    dist = -1

    # Check if x is present at root or
    # in left subtree or right subtree.
    if (root.data == x): 
        return dist + 1
    else:
        dist = findDistance(root.left, x)
        if dist >= 0:
            return dist + 1
        else:
            dist = findDistance(root.right, x)
            if dist >= 0:
                return dist + 1

    return dist

# Driver Code
if __name__ == '__main__':

    root = newNode(5) 
    root.left = newNode(10) 
    root.right = newNode(15) 
    root.left.left = newNode(20) 
    root.left.right = newNode(25) 
    root.left.right.right = newNode(45) 
    root.right.left = newNode(30) 
    root.right.right = newNode(35) 

    print(findDistance(root, 45))

# This code is contributed by PranchalK

// C# program to find distance of a given 
// node from root. 
using System;

class GfG 
{

    // A Binary Tree Node 
    class Node 
    { 
        public int data; 
        public Node left, right; 
    }

    // A utility function to create  
    // a new Binary Tree Node 
    static Node newNode(int item) 
    { 
        Node temp = new Node(); 
        temp.data = item; 
        temp.left = null;
        temp.right = null; 
        return temp; 
    } 

    // Returns -1 if x doesn't exist in tree. Else 
    // returns distance of x from root 
    static int findDistance(Node root, int x) 
    { 
        // Base case 
        if (root == null) 
        return -1; 

        // Initialize distance 
        int dist = -1; 

        // Check if x is present at root or in left 
        // subtree or right subtree. 
        if ((root.data == x) || 
            (dist = findDistance(root.left, x)) >= 0 || 
            (dist = findDistance(root.right, x)) >= 0) 
            return dist + 1; 

        return dist; 
    } 

    // Driver code 
    public static void Main(String[] args) 
    { 
        Node root = newNode(5); 
        root.left = newNode(10); 
        root.right = newNode(15); 
        root.left.left = newNode(20); 
        root.left.right = newNode(25); 
        root.left.right.right = newNode(45); 
        root.right.left = newNode(30); 
        root.right.right = newNode(35); 

        Console.WriteLine(findDistance(root, 45)); 
    }
}

// This code is contributed by 29AjayKumar

JavaScript

<script>

// Javascript program to find distance 
// of a given node from root.

// A Binary Tree Node
class Node
{
    
    // A utility function to create a 
    // new Binary Tree Node
    constructor(data)
    {
        this.data = data;
        this.left = this.right = null;
    }
}

// Returns -1 if x doesn't exist in tree. Else
// returns distance of x from root
function findDistance(root, x)
{
    
    // Base case
    if (root == null)
        return -1;
 
    // Initialize distance
    let dist = -1;
 
    // Check if x is present at root or in left
    // subtree or right subtree.
    if ((root.data == x) ||
        (dist = findDistance(root.left, x)) >= 0 ||
        (dist = findDistance(root.right, x)) >= 0)
        return dist + 1;
 
    return dist;
}

// Driver code
let root = new Node(5);
root.left = new Node(10);
root.right = new Node(15);
root.left.left = new Node(20);
root.left.right = new Node(25);
root.left.right.right = new Node(45);
root.right.left = new Node(30);
root.right.right = new Node(35);

document.write(findDistance(root, 45));

// This code is contributed by rag2127

</script>

Output

Time Complexity: O(N)
Auxiliary Space: O(1)

Approach 2: Iterative Approach

The above recursive approach can also be converted to an iterative approach by using a queue. Here is the iterative approach:

Start from the root node of the binary tree.
Create a queue and add the root node to the queue.
Create a map to store the parent of each node. Initialize the map with the root node’s parent as NULL.
Create a variable to keep track of the distance from the root node.
While the queue is not empty, dequeue a node and check if it is the target node.
- If the node is the target node, return the distance from the root node.
- If the node is not the target node, enqueue its left and right children (if they exist) and update their parent in the map.
- Increment the distance from the root node.
Repeat steps 5-8 until the queue is empty or the target node is found.

C++

// C++ program to find distance of a given
// node from root.
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;

// A Binary Tree Node
struct Node
{
    int data;
    Node *left, *right;
};

// A utility function to create a new Binary
// Tree Node
Node *newNode(int item)
{
    Node *temp = new Node;
    temp->data = item;
    temp->left = temp->right = NULL;
    return temp;
}

// Returns -1 if x doesn't exist in tree. Else
// returns distance of x from root
int findDistance(Node* root, int x) {
    if (root == NULL) {
        return -1;
    }
    queue<Node*> q;
    q.push(root);
    int dist = 0;
    while (!q.empty()) {
        int size = q.size();
        for (int i = 0; i < size; i++) {
            Node* curr = q.front();
            q.pop();
            if (curr->data == x) {
                return dist;
            }
            if (curr->left) {
                q.push(curr->left);
            }
            if (curr->right) {
                q.push(curr->right);
            }
        }
        dist++;
    }
    return -1;
}

// Driver Program to test above functions
int main()
{
    Node *root = newNode(5);
    root->left = newNode(10);
    root->right = newNode(15);
    root->left->left = newNode(20);
    root->left->right = newNode(25);
    root->left->right->right = newNode(45);
    root->right->left = newNode(30);
    root->right->right = newNode(35);

    cout << findDistance(root, 45);
    return 0;
}

Java

//Java code for the above approach
import java.util.LinkedList;
import java.util.Queue;

public class Main {

    static class Node {
        int data;
        Node left, right;

        Node(int item) {
            data = item;
            left = right = null;
        }
    }

    // Returns -1 if x doesn't exist in the tree. Else returns the distance of x from the root
    static int findDistance(Node root, int x) {
        if (root == null) {
            return -1;
        }

        Queue<Node> queue = new LinkedList<>();
        queue.add(root);
        int dist = 0;

        while (!queue.isEmpty()) {
            int size = queue.size();
            for (int i = 0; i < size; i++) {
                Node curr = queue.poll();
                if (curr.data == x) {
                    return dist;
                }
                if (curr.left != null) {
                    queue.add(curr.left);
                }
                if (curr.right != null) {
                    queue.add(curr.right);
                }
            }
            dist++;
        }

        return -1;
    }

    // Driver Program to test above functions
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Node root = new Node(5);
        root.left = new Node(10);
        root.right = new Node(15);
        root.left.left = new Node(20);
        root.left.right = new Node(25);
        root.left.right.right = new Node(45);
        root.right.left = new Node(30);
        root.right.right = new Node(35);

        System.out.println(findDistance(root, 45));
    }
}

Python

# Python Program for the above approach
from queue import Queue

# A Binary Tree Node
class Node:
    def __init__(self, data):
        self.data = data
        self.left = None
        self.right = None

# Returns -1 if x doesn't exist in tree. Else
# returns distance of x from root
def findDistance(root, x):
    if root is None:
        return -1

    q = Queue()
    q.put(root)
    dist = 0
    
    # till queue is not empty
    while not q.empty():
        size = q.qsize()
        for i in range(size):
            curr = q.get()
            if curr.data == x:
                return dist
            if curr.left:
                q.put(curr.left)
            if curr.right:
                q.put(curr.right)
        dist += 1

    return -1

# Driver Program to test above functions
if __name__ == '__main__':
    root = Node(5)
    root.left = Node(10)
    root.right = Node(15)
    root.left.left = Node(20)
    root.left.right = Node(25)
    root.left.right.right = Node(45)
    root.right.left = Node(30)
    root.right.right = Node(35)

    print(findDistance(root, 45))

# This Code is contributed by Kirti Agarwal

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

public class Node
{
    public int data;
    public Node left, right;
    public Node(int item)
    {
        data = item;
        left = right = null;
    }
}
public class GFG
{
    // Returns -1 if x doesn't exist in tree. Else
    // returns distance of x from root
    public static int FindDistance(Node root, int x)
    {
        if (root == null)
        {
            return -1;
        }
        Queue<Node> q = new Queue<Node>();
        q.Enqueue(root);
        int dist = 0;
        while (q.Count > 0)
        {
            int size = q.Count;
            for (int i = 0; i < size; i++)
            {
                Node curr = q.Dequeue();
                if (curr.data == x)
                {
                    return dist;
                }
                if (curr.left != null)
                {
                    q.Enqueue(curr.left);
                }
                if (curr.right != null)
                {
                    q.Enqueue(curr.right);
                }
            }
            dist++;
        }
        return -1;
    }
    // Driver Program to 
    // test above functions
    public static void Main()
    {
        Node root = new Node(5);
        root.left = new Node(10);
        root.right = new Node(15);
        root.left.left = new Node(20);
        root.left.right = new Node(25);
        root.left.right.right = new Node(45);
        root.right.left = new Node(30);
        root.right.right = new Node(35);
        Console.WriteLine(FindDistance(root, 45));
    }
}

JavaScript

// A Binary Tree Node
class Node {
    constructor(data) {
        this.data = data;
        this.left = null;
        this.right = null;
    }
}

// Returns -1 if x doesn't exist in tree. Else
// returns distance of x from root
function findDistance(root, x) {
    if (root === null) {
        return -1;
    }
    let queue = [];
    queue.push(root);
    let dist = 0;
    while (queue.length > 0) {
        let size = queue.length;
        for (let i = 0; i < size; i++) {
            let curr = queue.shift();
            if (curr.data === x) {
                return dist;
            }
            if (curr.left) {
                queue.push(curr.left);
            }
            if (curr.right) {
                queue.push(curr.right);
            }
        }
        dist++;
    }
    return -1;
}

// Driver Program to test above functions
let root = new Node(5);
root.left = new Node(10);
root.right = new Node(15);
root.left.left = new Node(20);
root.left.right = new Node(25);
root.left.right.right = new Node(45);
root.right.left = new Node(30);
root.right.right = new Node(35);

console.log(findDistance(root, 45));

// THIS CODE IS CONTRIBUTED BY Kirti Agarwal