A tree data structure can be represented in two methods. Those methods are as follows...
- List Representation
- Left Child - Right Sibling Representation
Consider the following tree...
1. List Representation
In this representation, we use two types of nodes one
for representing the node with data and another for representing only
references. We start with a node with data from root node in the tree.
Then it is linked to an internal node through a reference node and is
linked to any other node directly. This process repeats for all the
nodes in the tree.
The above tree example can be represented using List representation as follows...
2. Left Child - Right Sibling Representation
In this representation, we use list with one type of
node which consists of three fields namely Data field, Left child
reference field and Right sibling reference field. Data field stores the
actual value of a node, left reference field stores the address of the
left child and right reference field stores the address of the right
sibling node. Graphical representation of that node is as follows...
In this representation, every node's data field stores
the actual value of that node. If that node has left child, then left
reference field stores the address of that left child node otherwise
that field stores NULL. If that node has right sibling then right
reference field stores the address of right sibling node otherwise that
field stores NULL.
The above tree example can be represented using Left Child - Right Sibling representation as follows...
The above tree example can be represented using Left Child - Right Sibling representation as follows...
