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Data Structures & Algorithms in Swift

Fourth Edition · iOS 15 · Swift 5.5 · Xcode 13

10. Trees
Written by Kelvin Lau

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A tree

The tree is a data structure of profound importance. It is used in numerous facets of software development, such as:

  • Representing hierarchical relationships.
  • Managing sorted data.
  • Facilitating fast lookup operations.

There are many types of trees, and they come in various shapes and sizes. In this chapter, you will learn the basics of using and implementing a tree.

Terminology

Many terms are associated with trees, and here are some you should know right off the bat.

Node

Like the linked list, trees are made up of nodes.

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Parent and child

Trees are viewed starting from the top and branching towards the bottom, just like a real tree, only upside-down.

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Root

The topmost node in the tree is called the root of the tree. It is the only node that has no parent:

Leaf

A node is a leaf if it has no children:

Implementation

Open up the starter playground for this chapter to get started. A tree consists of nodes, so your first task is to create a TreeNode class.

public class TreeNode<T> {
  public var value: T
  public var children: [TreeNode] = []

  public init(_ value: T) {
    self.value = value
  }
}
public func add(_ child: TreeNode) {
  children.append(child)
}
example(of: "creating a tree") {
  let beverages = TreeNode("Beverages")

  let hot = TreeNode("Hot")
  let cold = TreeNode("Cold")

  beverages.add(hot)
  beverages.add(cold)
}
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Traversal algorithms

Iterating through linear collections such as arrays or linked lists is straightforward. Linear collections have a clear start and end:

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Depth-first traversal

Write the following at the bottom of TreeNode.swift:

extension TreeNode {
  public func forEachDepthFirst(visit: (TreeNode) -> Void) {
    visit(self)
    children.forEach {
      $0.forEachDepthFirst(visit: visit)
    }
  }
}
func makeBeverageTree() -> TreeNode<String> {
  let tree = TreeNode("Beverages")

  let hot = TreeNode("hot")
  let cold = TreeNode("cold")

  let tea = TreeNode("tea")
  let coffee = TreeNode("coffee")
  let chocolate = TreeNode("cocoa")

  let blackTea = TreeNode("black")
  let greenTea = TreeNode("green")
  let chaiTea = TreeNode("chai")

  let soda = TreeNode("soda")
  let milk = TreeNode("milk")

  let gingerAle = TreeNode("ginger ale")
  let bitterLemon = TreeNode("bitter lemon")

  tree.add(hot)
  tree.add(cold)

  hot.add(tea)
  hot.add(coffee)
  hot.add(chocolate)

  cold.add(soda)
  cold.add(milk)

  tea.add(blackTea)
  tea.add(greenTea)
  tea.add(chaiTea)

  soda.add(gingerAle)
  soda.add(bitterLemon)

  return tree
}
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example(of: "depth-first traversal") {
  let tree = makeBeverageTree()
  tree.forEachDepthFirst { print($0.value) }
}
---Example of: depth-first traversal---
Beverages
hot
tea
black
green
chai
coffee
cocoa
cold
soda
ginger ale
bitter lemon
milk

Level-order traversal

Write the following at the bottom of TreeNode.swift:

extension TreeNode {
  public func forEachLevelOrder(visit: (TreeNode) -> Void) {
    visit(self)
    var queue = Queue<TreeNode>()
    children.forEach { queue.enqueue($0) }
    while let node = queue.dequeue() {
      visit(node)
      node.children.forEach { queue.enqueue($0) }
    }
  }
}
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example(of: "level-order traversal") {
  let tree = makeBeverageTree()
  tree.forEachLevelOrder { print($0.value) }
}
---Example of: level-order traversal---
Beverages
hot
cold
tea
coffee
cocoa
soda
milk
black
green
chai
ginger ale
bitter lemon

Search

You already have a method that iterates through all the nodes, so building a search algorithm shouldn’t take long. Write the following at the bottom of TreeNode.swift:

extension TreeNode where T: Equatable {
  public func search(_ value: T) -> TreeNode? {
    var result: TreeNode?
    forEachLevelOrder { node in
      if node.value == value {
        result = node
      }
    }
    return result
  }
}
example(of: "searching for a node") {
  // tree from the last example

  if let searchResult1 = tree.search("ginger ale") {
    print("Found node: \(searchResult1.value)")
  }
  if let searchResult2 = tree.search("WKD Blue") {
    print(searchResult2.value)
  } else {
    print("Couldn't find WKD Blue")
  }
}
---Example of: searching for a node---
Found node: ginger ale
Couldn't find WKD Blue

Key points

  • Trees share similarities to linked lists, but a tree node can link to many child nodes where linked-list nodes may only link to one successor node.
  • Every tree node, except for the root node, has exactly one parent node.
  • A root node has no parent nodes.
  • Leaf nodes have no child nodes.
  • Be comfortable with the tree terminology such as parent, child, leaf and root. Many of these terms are common tongue for fellow programmers and will help explain other tree structures.
  • Traversals, such as depth-first and level-order traversals, aren’t specific to the general tree. They work on other kinds of trees, although their implementation will be slightly different based on how the tree is structured.
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