What is the space complexity of a recursive in-order traversal of a binary tree?

Practice Questions

Q1
What is the space complexity of a recursive in-order traversal of a binary tree?
  1. O(n)
  2. O(log n)
  3. O(1)
  4. O(n log n)

Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions

What is the space complexity of a recursive in-order traversal of a binary tree?
  • Step 1: Understand what space complexity means. It refers to the amount of memory space required by an algorithm as a function of the input size.
  • Step 2: Recognize that in-order traversal of a binary tree means visiting the left child, then the current node, and finally the right child.
  • Step 3: Note that in a recursive function, each function call uses some space on the call stack.
  • Step 4: Identify that the maximum number of function calls on the call stack at any time is equal to the height of the tree.
  • Step 5: Define the height of the tree (h). For a balanced binary tree, the height is approximately log(n), where n is the number of nodes.
  • Step 6: Conclude that the space complexity for the recursive in-order traversal is O(h), which is O(log n) for balanced trees.
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