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

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

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

Step 1: Understand what space complexity means. It refers to the amount of memory used by an algorithm as the size of the input grows.
Step 2: Recognize that a recursive pre-order traversal of a binary tree involves calling the function multiple times for each node.
Step 3: Note that each time the function is called, it uses some space on the call stack (the memory used for function calls).
Step 4: In the worst case, the depth of the recursion stack can be as deep as the height of the tree.
Step 5: For a binary tree, the height can be as large as 'n' (the number of nodes) in the case of a skewed tree (like a linked list).
Step 6: Therefore, the maximum space used by the recursion stack can be O(n) in the worst case.
Step 7: Conclude that the space complexity of a recursive pre-order traversal of a binary tree is O(n).

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