Table of contents
1.
What is a Binary Tree?
2.
Why is Binary Tree so popular? 
2.1.
Implementation in Java
2.1.1.
Output
3.
Applications of Binary Tree
3.1.
File Systems
3.2.
Search Engines
3.3.
Searching and Sorting Algorithms
3.4.
Expression Trees
3.5.
Huffman Coding
3.6.
Decision Trees
3.7.
Game AI
3.8.
Trie
4.
Fields with their Applications
5.
Frequently Asked Questions
5.1.
What is a binary tree? 
5.2.
What is the difference between a binary tree and a binary search tree? 
5.3.
What is a binary tree crossing? 
5.4.
What is a cross-binary algorithm?
5.5.
What are the properties of a binary tree? 
6.
Conclusion
Last Updated: Jun 14, 2024
Easy

Application of Binary Tree

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Hello Ninja, welcome to the new article on the application of binary trees. In this article, we will cover the basics of binary trees, follow on with the application of binary trees and some important faqs.

Introduction

Let's start with the definition of the binary tree.

What is a Binary Tree?

Binary tree is a Simple yet Powerful Data Structure. Binary trees are a fundamental data structure used in computer science for organising and manipulating data. It is a data structure in which every node has at max two children, one is left, and another is right. The children are also binary trees.

Binary Tree

Why is Binary Tree so popular? 

  • It is the most widely used data structure in most apps and systems.
  • It is a simple database structure. Because of its feature, it is so popular. 
  • And the important part is binary tree can be constructed as an array using the Binary Heap principle. And in a result, the concept of OOP is optional for secure implementation.
  • It can also store data in a very structured format.

Below is the simple Implementation of a Binary tree in Java.

Implementation in Java

class TreeNode {
    int val;
    TreeNode left;
    TreeNode right;
    
    public TreeNode(int val) {
        this.val = val;
    }
}

public class Solution {
    TreeNode root;
    
    // In-order traversal of the binary tree
    public void inOrderTraversal(TreeNode node) {
        if (node != null) {
            inOrderTraversal(node.left);
            System.out.print(node.val + " ");
            inOrderTraversal(node.right);
        }
    }
    
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Create a binary tree
        Solution ninjaTree = new Solution();
        
        // Populate the binary tree with nodes
        ninjaTree.root = new TreeNode(1);
        ninjaTree.root.left = new TreeNode(2);
        ninjaTree.root.right = new TreeNode(3);
        ninjaTree.root.left.left = new TreeNode(4);
        ninjaTree.root.left.right = new TreeNode(5);
        
        // Print the in-order traversal of the binary tree
        ninjaTree.inOrderTraversal(ninjaTree.root);
    }
}
You can also try this code with Online Java Compiler
Run Code

Output

Output

Now start with discussing the application of binary tree.

If you want to practice some Binary Tree Interview Questions, follow this link.

Applications of Binary Tree

File Systems

Binary trees are used in file systems to organise and store files. Each node in the tree represents a file or a directory, and the left child of a node represents a subdirectory or a file that is smaller than the node, while the right child represents a subdirectory or a file that is larger than the node.

File Systems

Search Engines

Binary trees are used in search engines to organise and index web pages. Each node in the tree represents a web page, and the left child of a node represents a web page ranked lower than the node, while the right child represents a web page ranked higher than the node.

Search Engines

Searching and Sorting Algorithms

In our daily life, organising and finding the data is very important. So here also, binary trees play the role of searching and sorting. It is commonly used in searching and sorting algorithms, including binary search, binary insertion sort, and quicksort. 

You might have heard about binary search in this algorithm; it searches for a value in a sorted array by repeatedly dividing the search length into half of the last one. Binary insertion sort uses a binary search to find the insertion point. And the last quicksort is a popular sorting algorithm that uses a binary tree to sort the data.

Expression Trees

Are you a maths lover? Because binary trees can also be used to represent maths expressions, such as equations. These are known as expression trees. Expression trees are basically used in evaluating and simplifying expressions and generating code.

Expression Trees

Huffman Coding

Have you ever heard about Huffman coding? It is a data compression algorithm that uses binary trees to encode characters. The binary tree used in Huffman coding is called a Huffman tree, and it is a binary tree in which the nodes represent the characters to be encoded. The algorithm assigns variable-length characters to each character, and the most frequent characters receive short codes.

Decision Trees

The decision tree is used in machine learning and data mining to model decisions and their consequences. In the decision tree, the inner node represents the test on an attribute, while the leaf node represents the result of the decision. Decision trees are used in various applications, such as fraud detection, customer segmentation, and medical diagnosis.

Decision Trees

Game AI

Two poles can be used in game artificial intelligence to model the different possibilities and outcomes of a game. This allows the AI ​​to make decisions based on possible outcomes and choose the best option.

Trie

A trie is a specialised tree data structure used to store and retrieve strings. It is also known as a prefix tree or a digital tree. In a trie, each node represents a prefix of a string, and the child nodes represent the next character in the string. Tries are used in applications such as search engines, spell checkers, and routers.

Trie

Want to learn Binary trees completely? Follow this link.

To understand the application of a binary tree in a better way, below is the tabular representation.

Fields with their Applications

Below is the tabular information of the application with the field.

Fields

Applications

File Systems organizing and storing files
Search Engines Indexing and ranking web pages
Sorting Sorting algorithms, such as binary insertion sort and quicksort
Math Representing math expressions for evaluating and symplifying
Data Compression Encoding characters using Huffman coding
Decision Trees Modeling decisions and consequences in machine learning
String Retrieval Storing and retrieving strings using trie data structures
Game AI Modeling possible moves and outcomes in game artificial intelligence
Network Routing Routing data through computer networks
Arithmetic Coding Encoding characters with variable-length codes using a binary tree
Priority Queues Efficient access to the item with the highest priority
Image Processing Representing image region or shapes
Cryptography Generating and managing encryption and decryption keys

 

Refer to know about : Boundary value analysis

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a binary tree? 

It is a data structure in which every node can have a max two children, which are called the left child and the right child. 

What is the difference between a binary tree and a binary search tree? 

A binary tree is basically a tree data structure in which each node has a max of two children, whereas the binary search tree is a binary tree that performs a binary search function, meaning that the left child of the node has a value less than the value of the node. And the right child is more than the value of the node. 

What is a binary tree crossing? 

Crossing a binary tree is a method for visiting all the nodes of a binary tree in a specific order.

What is a cross-binary algorithm?

The cross-binary algorithm is a method for fetching all nodes of a binary tree in a specific order. There are several crossover algorithms, including pre-order, post-order, and pass-through.

What are the properties of a binary tree? 

The basic properties of a binary tree are the node has at most two children, the left and the right, and the tree is a repeating data structure, meaning that each child behaves as a Binary tree.

Conclusion

Great, we have covered the topic of the application of binary trees. In the above article, we have covered the introduction of a binary tree, the application of the binary tree and the tabular information with the field and applications.

If you want to learn more, follow the articles below to build fundamentals:

You may refer to our Guided Path on Code360 to enhance your skill set on DSACompetitive ProgrammingSystem Design, etc. Check out essential interview questions, practice our available mock tests, look at the interview bundle for interview preparations, and so much more!

Happy Learning, Ninjas! Keep learning.

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