Binary Search Trees and Balanced Trees

Intuition

A filing cabinet that stays sorted: A BST is like a filing cabinet where every folder is labelled, and you know that smaller labels go left and larger labels go right, finding any file takes O(log n) time if the tree is balanced, just like binary search on a sorted array.

Why it matters: BSTs are the foundation of many data structures, balanced BSTs (AVL, red-black) power database indexes, language libraries (C++ std::map, Java TreeMap), and filesystem directories.

The key insight: An unbalanced BST degenerates into a linked list with O(n) operations, this is why self-balancing variants (AVL, red-black) are essential in practice. The balance property guarantees O(log n) height.

Binary Search Tree Fundamentals

A binary search tree (BST) is a binary tree where every node satisfies the BST property: for any Node with key $k$ All keys in its left subtree are strictly less than $k$ And all keys in its Right subtree are strictly greater than $k$ .

Node Definition

class BSTNode:
    def __init__(self, key, val=None):
        self.key = key
        self.val = val
        self.left = None
        self.right = None
        self.parent = None

Search

def bst_search(root, key):
    """
    Search for key in BST.
    Time: O(h) where h = tree height
    Best case (balanced): O(log n)
    Worst case (degenerate): O(n)
    """
    curr = root
    while curr:
        if key == curr.key:
            return curr
        elif key < curr.key:
            curr = curr.left
        else:
            curr = curr.right
    return None

Insert

def bst_insert(root, key, val=None):
    """
    Insert key into BST. Returns new root.
    Time: O(h)
    """
    if root is None:
        return BSTNode(key, val)
    if key < root.key:
        root.left = bst_insert(root.left, key, val)
        root.left.parent = root
    elif key > root.key:
        root.right = bst_insert(root.right, key, val)
        root.right.parent = root
    return root

Delete, Three Cases

def bst_delete(root, key):
    """
    Delete key from BST. Returns new root.
    Time: O(h)
    """
    if root is None:
        return None

    if key < root.key:
        root.left = bst_delete(root.left, key)
    elif key > root.key:
        root.right = bst_delete(root.right, key)
    else:
        # Case 1: No children (leaf)
        if root.left is None and root.right is None:
            return None
        # Case 2: One child
        if root.left is None:
            return root.right
        if root.right is None:
            return root.left
        # Case 3: Two children, replace with inorder successor
        successor = bst_min(root.right)
        root.key = successor.key
        root.val = successor.val
        root.right = bst_delete(root.right, successor.key)

    return root

def bst_min(node):
    """Find minimum key node. O(h)."""
    while node.left:
        node = node.left
    return node

graph TD
    subgraph "Delete node 7 (two children)"
        A["Before: 5"] --> B[3]
        A --> C[7]
        B --> D[1]
        B --> E[4]
        C --> F[6]
        C --> G[9]
    end

    subgraph "After: replace with inorder successor 9"
        A2["After: 5"] --> B2[3]
        A2 --> C2[9]
        B2 --> D2[1]
        B2 --> E2[4]
        C2 --> F2[6]
    end

BST Height

Shape	Height	Search/Insert/Delete
Balanced	$O(\log n)$	$O(\log n)$
Degenerate	$O(n)$	$O(n)$
Random	$O(\log n)$ expected	$O(\log n)$ expected

For $n$ distinct keys inserted in random order, the expected height of a BST is approximately $2 \ln n \approx 1.39 \log_2 n$ . This is only about 39% taller than a perfectly balanced tree, but the worst case (sorted input) gives height $n$ .

Traversals

def inorder(root):
    """Left -> Root -> Right. Yields sorted order for BST. O(n)."""
    if root:
        yield from inorder(root.left)
        yield root.key
        yield from inorder(root.right)

def preorder(root):
    """Root -> Left -> Right. O(n)."""
    if root:
        yield root.key
        yield from preorder(root.left)
        yield from preorder(root.right)

def postorder(root):
    """Left -> Right -> Root. O(n)."""
    if root:
        yield from postorder(root.left)
        yield from postorder(root.right)
        yield root.key

def level_order(root):
    """Breadth-first traversal. O(n)."""
    from collections import deque
    if root is None:
        return
    q = deque([root])
    while q:
        node = q.popleft()
        yield node.key
        if node.left:
            q.append(node.left)
        if node.right:
            q.append(node.right)

Successor and Predecessor

def bst_successor(node):
    """
    Find inorder successor of node.
    Time: O(h)
    """
    if node.right:
        return bst_min(node.right)
    parent = node.parent
    while parent and node == parent.right:
        node = parent
        parent = parent.parent
    return parent

def bst_predecessor(node):
    """
    Find inorder predecessor of node.
    Time: O(h)
    """
    if node.left:
        curr = node.left
        while curr.right:
            curr = curr.right
        return curr
    parent = node.parent
    while parent and node == parent.left:
        node = parent
        parent = parent.parent
    return parent

AVL Trees

An AVL tree (Adelson-Velsky and Landis, 1962) is a self-balancing BST where the balance factor Of every node is in $\{-1, 0, 1\}$ . The balance factor is the height of the right subtree minus the Height of the left subtree.

Balance Factor

\mathrm{bf(v) = \mathrm{height(v.\mathrm{right) - \mathrm{height(v.\mathrm{left)

After every insertion or deletion, we walk back up from the modified node to the root, rebalancing as needed. The balance factor must be in $\{-1, 0, 1\}$ for every node.

Rotations

graph TD
    subgraph "Right Rotation (LL case)"
        A["z (bf=-2)"] --> B["y (bf=-1)"]
        A -.-> C["T3"]
        B --> D["T1"]
        B --> E["T2"]
    end

LL (Left-Left) Case: Right rotation on $z$ .

     z                y
    / \              / \
   y   T3    =>    T1   z
  / \                  / \
 T1  T2              T2   T3

RR (Right-Right) Case: Left rotation on $z$ .

   z                  y
  / \                / \
 T1   y      =>     z   T3
     / \           / \
    T2  T3       T1  T2

LR (Left-Right) Case: Left rotation on $y$ Then right rotation on $z$ .

     z                z                x
    / \              / \              / \
   y   T3   =>     x   T3   =>     y   z
  / \              / \              / \ / \
 T1   x           y  T2           T1 T2 T3 T4
     / \         / \
    T2  T3      T1  T2

RL (Right-Left) Case: Right rotation on $y$ Then left rotation on $z$ .

   z                z                  x
  / \              / \                / \
 T1   y    =>    T1   x      =>     z   y
     / \             / \            / \ / \
    x   T4         T2   y         T1 T2 T3 T4
   / \                  / \
  T2  T3              T3  T4

Implementation

class AVLNode:
    def __init__(self, key, val=None):
        self.key = key
        self.val = val
        self.left = None
        self.right = None
        self.height = 1

class AVLTree:
    """
    AVL tree: self-balancing BST.
    Search: O(log n) worst case
    Insert: O(log n) worst case (at most 2 rotations)
    Delete: O(log n) worst case (at most O(log n) rotations)
    Space: O(n)
    """
    def _height(self, node):
        return node.height if node else 0

    def _balance_factor(self, node):
        if node is None:
            return 0
        return self._height(node.right) - self._height(node.left)

    def _update_height(self, node):
        node.height = 1 + max(self._height(node.left), self._height(node.right))

    def _rotate_right(self, z):
        y = z.left
        T3 = y.right
        y.right = z
        z.left = T3
        self._update_height(z)
        self._update_height(y)
        return y

    def _rotate_left(self, z):
        y = z.right
        T2 = y.left
        y.left = z
        z.right = T2
        self._update_height(z)
        self._update_height(y)
        return y

    def _rebalance(self, node):
        self._update_height(node)
        bf = self._balance_factor(node)

        if bf > 1:
            if self._balance_factor(node.right) < 0:
                node.right = self._rotate_right(node.right)
            return self._rotate_left(node)
        if bf < -1:
            if self._balance_factor(node.left) > 0:
                node.left = self._rotate_left(node.left)
            return self._rotate_right(node)

        return node

    def insert(self, root, key, val=None):
        if root is None:
            return AVLNode(key, val)
        if key < root.key:
            root.left = self.insert(root.left, key, val)
        elif key > root.key:
            root.right = self.insert(root.right, key, val)
        return self._rebalance(root)

    def delete(self, root, key):
        if root is None:
            return None
        if key < root.key:
            root.left = self.delete(root.left, key)
        elif key > root.key:
            root.right = self.delete(root.right, key)
        else:
            if root.left is None:
                return root.right
            if root.right is None:
                return root.left
            successor = root.right
            while successor.left:
                successor = successor.left
            root.key = successor.key
            root.val = successor.val
            root.right = self.delete(root.right, successor.key)
        return self._rebalance(root)

    def search(self, root, key):
        curr = root
        while curr:
            if key == curr.key:
                return curr
            elif key < curr.key:
                curr = curr.left
            else:
                curr = curr.right
        return None

Complexity Proof

An AVL tree with $n$ nodes has height at most $1.44 \log_2(n+2) - 1.328$ . Proof sketch: the minimum Number of nodes in an AVL tree of height $h$ is $N(h) = N(h-1) + N(h-2) + 1$ with $N(0) = 1$ $N(1) = 2$ . This is closely related to the Fibonacci sequence, giving $N(h) = F_{h+3} - 1$ . Since $F_k \approx \phi^k / \sqrt{5}$ We get $h \le c \log_\phi(n)$ for some constant $c$ .

Operation	Worst Case	Rotations per Insert	Rotations per Delete
Search	$O(\log n)$	0	0
Insert	$O(\log n)$	$\le 2$	0
Delete	$O(\log n)$	0	$O(\log n)$

Rotations in the worst case, because a deletion can increase the height difference at each ancestor along the path to the root.

Red-Black Trees

A red-black tree is a self-balancing BST where each node has a colour (red or black) and satisfies Five invariants. It provides the same $O(\log n)$ worst-case guarantees as AVL trees but with fewer Rotations on insertion (at most 2) and deletion (at most 3).

Properties

Every node is either red or black
The root is black
Every leaf (NIL) is black
If a node is red, both its children are black (no two reds in a row)
For each node, all paths from the node to descendant NIL nodes contain the same number of black nodes (black-height)

Black-Height Lemma

The black-height of a node is the number of black nodes on any path from that node to a NIL leaf (not counting the node itself). By property 5, this is well-defined. A red-black tree with $n$ Internal nodes has height at most $2 \log_2(n+1)$ .

Proof sketch: the shortest path from root to leaf has only black nodes (length = bh), and the Longest has alternating red-black (length = 2 \cdot bh). Since at least half the nodes on any Root-to-leaf path are black, the height $h \le 2 \cdot \mathrm{bh$ . A tree with black-height $b$ has at least $2^b - 1$ internal nodes, so $n \ge 2^{h/2} - 1$ Giving $h \le 2 \log_2(n+1)$ .

Node Definition

RED = True
BLACK = False

class RBNode:
    def __init__(self, key, val=None, colour=RED):
        self.key = key
        self.val = val
        self.left = None
        self.right = None
        self.parent = None
        self.colour = colour

NIL = RBNode(key=None, colour=BLACK)
NIL.left = NIL
NIL.right = NIL

Rotations

def rb_rotate_left(tree, x):
    y = x.right
    x.right = y.left
    if y.left != NIL:
        y.left.parent = x
    y.parent = x.parent
    if x.parent is None:
        tree.root = y
    elif x == x.parent.left:
        x.parent.left = y
    else:
        x.parent.right = y
    y.left = x
    x.parent = y

def rb_rotate_right(tree, y):
    x = y.left
    y.left = x.right
    if x.right != NIL:
        x.right.parent = y
    x.parent = y.parent
    if y.parent is None:
        tree.root = x
    elif y == y.parent.right:
        y.parent.right = x
    else:
        y.parent.left = x
    x.right = y
    y.parent = x

Insertion with Recolouring

class RBTree:
    def __init__(self):
        self.root = NIL

    def insert(self, key, val=None):
        new_node = RBNode(key, val)
        new_node.left = NIL
        new_node.right = NIL
        parent = None
        curr = self.root
        while curr != NIL:
            parent = curr
            if key < curr.key:
                curr = curr.left
            elif key > curr.key:
                curr = curr.right
            else:
                curr.val = val
                return
        new_node.parent = parent
        if parent is None:
            self.root = new_node
        elif key < parent.key:
            parent.left = new_node
        else:
            parent.right = new_node
        self._insert_fixup(new_node)

    def _insert_fixup(self, z):
        while z.parent and z.parent.colour == RED:
            if z.parent == z.parent.parent.left:
                y = z.parent.parent.right
                if y.colour == RED:
                    z.parent.colour = BLACK
                    y.colour = BLACK
                    z.parent.parent.colour = RED
                    z = z.parent.parent
                else:
                    if z == z.parent.right:
                        z = z.parent
                        rb_rotate_left(self, z)
                    z.parent.colour = BLACK
                    z.parent.parent.colour = RED
                    rb_rotate_right(self, z.parent.parent)
            else:
                y = z.parent.parent.left
                if y.colour == RED:
                    z.parent.colour = BLACK
                    y.colour = BLACK
                    z.parent.parent.colour = RED
                    z = z.parent.parent
                else:
                    if z == z.parent.left:
                        z = z.parent
                        rb_rotate_right(self, z)
                    z.parent.colour = BLACK
                    z.parent.parent.colour = RED
                    rb_rotate_left(self, z.parent.parent)
        self.root.colour = BLACK

AVL vs Red-Black Trees

Property	AVL Tree	Red-Black Tree
Height bound	$\le 1.44 \log_2 n$	$\le 2 \log_2(n+1)$
Strictly balanced	Yes (bf in {-1,0,1})	No (allows more slack)
Search	Faster (shorter tree)	Slightly slower
Insert rotations	$\le 2$	$\le 2$
Delete rotations	$O(\log n)$	$\le 3$
Insert performance	Slightly slower	Slightly faster
Delete performance	Slower (more rotations)	Faster
Standard library use	`std::map` (GCC)	Java `TreeMap`Linux kernel

And deletions are frequent (scheduler, event queues). In practice, the performance difference is Small for most workloads.

B-Trees

B-trees are balanced search trees designed for systems that read and write large blocks of data (disk pages). They minimise the number of disk I/O operations by keeping the tree shallow with wide Nodes.

Motivation

A binary tree with 1 million keys has height $\approx 20$ . If each node is on a different disk page, A lookup requires 20 disk seeks (each costing ~10ms on HDD). A B-tree of order $m = 100$ has height $\le 3$ for the same data, requiring only 3 disk seeks.

Structure

A B-tree of minimum degree $t \ge 2$ has these properties:

Every node has at most $2t - 1$ keys
Every non-root node has at least $t - 1$ keys
The root has at least 1 key
A non-leaf node with $k$ keys has $k + 1$ children
All leaves are at the same depth

Parameter	Value
Max keys per node	$2t - 1$
Min keys per node	$t - 1$ (non-root)
Max children	$2t$
Min children	$t$ (non-root)
Height	$O(\log_t n)$

Search

def btree_search(node, key):
    """
    Search in B-tree node. Returns (node, index) or (None, -1).
    Time: O(t) per node, O(t log_t n) total
    """
    i = 0
    while i < len(node.keys) and key > node.keys[i]:
        i += 1
    if i < len(node.keys) and key == node.keys[i]:
        return (node, i)
    if node.is_leaf:
        return (None, -1)
    return btree_search(node.children[i], key)

Insert with Split

class BTreeNode:
    def __init__(self, leaf=True):
        self.keys = []
        self.children = []
        self.leaf = leaf

class BTree:
    """
    B-tree with minimum degree t.
    Search: O(t log_t n)
    Insert: O(t log_t n), at most O(log_t n) splits
    Delete: O(t log_t n)
    Space: O(n)
    """
    def __init__(self, t=2):
        self.root = BTreeNode(leaf=True)
        self.t = t

    def insert(self, key):
        root = self.root
        if len(root.keys) == 2 * self.t - 1:
            new_root = BTreeNode(leaf=False)
            new_root.children.append(self.root)
            self.root = new_root
            self._split_child(new_root, 0)
            self._insert_nonfull(new_root, key)
        else:
            self._insert_nonfull(root, key)

    def _split_child(self, parent, i):
        t = self.t
        child = parent.children[i]
        new_node = BTreeNode(leaf=child.leaf)
        mid_key = child.keys[t - 1]

        new_node.keys = child.keys[t:2*t-1]
        child.keys = child.keys[:t-1]

        if not child.leaf:
            new_node.children = child.children[t:2*t]
            child.children = child.children[:t]

        parent.keys.insert(i, mid_key)
        parent.children.insert(i + 1, new_node)

    def _insert_nonfull(self, node, key):
        i = len(node.keys) - 1
        if node.leaf:
            node.keys.append(None)
            while i >= 0 and key < node.keys[i]:
                node.keys[i + 1] = node.keys[i]
                i -= 1
            node.keys[i + 1] = key
        else:
            while i >= 0 and key < node.keys[i]:
                i -= 1
            i += 1
            if len(node.children[i].keys) == 2 * self.t - 1:
                self._split_child(node, i)
                if key > node.keys[i]:
                    i += 1
            self._insert_nonfull(node.children[i], key)

B+ Trees

A B+ tree is a variant of the B-tree used in database systems and file systems. All data is stored in the leaf nodes, and internal nodes contain only keys for navigation.

Differences from B-Trees

Property	B-Tree	B+ Tree
Data storage	Every node	Leaf nodes only
Internal nodes	Keys + data pointers	Keys + child pointers only
Leaf linkage	None	Linked list (next pointers)
Key duplication	No	Keys duplicated in leaves
Range queries	Requires traversal	Sequential scan of leaves

graph TD
    subgraph "B+ Tree Example (t=2)"
        R["[30 \| 60]"] --> I1["[10 \| 20]"]
        R --> I2["[40 \| 50]"]
        R --> I3["[70 \| 80]"]
        I1 --> L1["5, 10, 15"]
        I1 --> L2["20, 25"]
        I2 --> L3["30, 35"]
        I2 --> L4["40, 45, 50"]
        I3 --> L5["60, 65"]
        I3 --> L6["70, 80, 90"]
        L1 -.-> L2
        L2 -.-> L3
        L3 -.-> L4
        L4 -.-> L5
        L5 -.-> L6
    end

Range Queries

The linked list of leaf nodes makes range queries efficient. To find all keys in range $[a, b]$ :

Search for $a$ . This gives the starting leaf
Follow the leaf links until the key exceeds $b$

def bplus_range_query(tree, low, high):
    """
    Range query on B+ tree.
    Time: O(t log_t n + k) where k = number of results
    """
    leaf, start_idx = bplus_search(tree.root, low)
    result = []
    current = leaf
    while current:
        for i in range(start_idx, len(current.keys)):
            if current.keys[i] > high:
                return result
            result.append((current.keys[i], current.values[i]))
        current = current.next_leaf
        start_idx = 0
    return result

Oracle). PostgreSQL uses B+ trees as the default index type. MySQL InnoDB uses a variant where the Leaf pages form a doubly-linked list, enabling both forward and backward scans.

Splay Trees

A splay tree is a self-adjusting BST that has no explicit balance information. Instead, it moves the most recently accessed node to the root using a series of rotations called a splay operation.

Splay Operation

The splay operation brings a node $x$ to the root using one of three cases:

Zig (parent is root): single rotation
Zig-zig (x and parent are both left children or both right children): rotate parent, then x
Zig-zag (x is left child, parent is right child, or vice versa): rotate x twice

class SplayNode:
    def __init__(self, key):
        self.key = key
        self.left = None
        self.right = None

class SplayTree:
    """
    Splay tree: self-adjusting BST with amortised O(log n) per operation.
    No explicit balance info needed.
    """
    def __init__(self):
        self.root = None

    def _rotate_right(self, x):
        y = x.left
        x.left = y.right
        y.right = x
        return y

    def _rotate_left(self, x):
        y = x.right
        x.right = y.left
        y.left = x
        return y

    def _splay(self, root, key):
        if root is None or root.key == key:
            return root
        if key < root.key:
            if root.left is None:
                return root
            if key < root.left.key:
                root.left.left = self._splay(root.left.left, key)
                root = self._rotate_right(root)
            elif key > root.left.key:
                root.left.right = self._splay(root.left.right, key)
                if root.left.right:
                    root.left = self._rotate_left(root.left)
            if root.left:
                root = self._rotate_right(root)
            return root
        else:
            if root.right is None:
                return root
            if key > root.right.key:
                root.right.right = self._splay(root.right.right, key)
                root = self._rotate_left(root)
            elif key < root.right.key:
                root.right.left = self._splay(root.right.left, key)
                if root.right.left:
                    root.right = self._rotate_right(root.right)
            if root.right:
                root = self._rotate_left(root)
            return root

    def search(self, key):
        self.root = self._splay(self.root, key)
        if self.root and self.root.key == key:
            return self.root
        return None

    def insert(self, key):
        if self.root is None:
            self.root = SplayNode(key)
            return
        self.root = self._splay(self.root, key)
        if self.root.key == key:
            return
        new_node = SplayNode(key)
        if key < self.root.key:
            new_node.right = self.root
            new_node.left = self.root.left
            self.root.left = None
        else:
            new_node.left = self.root
            new_node.right = self.root.right
            self.root.right = None
        self.root = new_node

Amortised Analysis

The splay operation has amortised cost $O(\log n)$ using the potential method. Define the Potential of node $x$ with rank $r(x) = \lfloor \log_2(\mathrm{size(x)) \rfloor$ . The amortised cost of a splay is bounded by $1 + 3(r(\mathrm{root) - r(x)) = O(\log n)$ .

The access lemma states that the amortised cost of splaying node $x$ is at most $3(\log_2 n - \log_2(\mathrm{size(x))) + 1$ Which means frequently accessed nodes move toward the Root and become cheaper to access.

Static Optimality Theorem

For any sequence of $m$ accesses on a splay tree with $n$ nodes, the total access time is $O(m \log n + \mathrm{OPT)$ where OPT is the optimal access time using any static binary search tree. This means splay trees are within a constant factor of optimal for any access pattern.

Treaps

A treap (tree + heap) is a BST ordered by key with heap ordering on randomly assigned priorities. Each node has a key and a priority; the BST property holds for keys, and the min-heap property holds for priorities.

import random

class TreapNode:
    def __init__(self, key, priority=None):
        self.key = key
        self.priority = priority if priority is not None else random.random()
        self.left = None
        self.right = None

class Treap:
    """
    Randomised BST (treap).
    Expected height: O(log n)
    Search: O(log n) expected
    Insert: O(log n) expected (rotations only)
    Delete: O(log n) expected (rotations only)
    """
    def __init__(self):
        self.root = None

    def _rotate_right(self, y):
        x = y.left
        y.left = x.right
        x.right = y
        return x

    def _rotate_left(self, x):
        y = x.right
        x.right = y.left
        y.left = x
        return y

    def insert(self, root, key):
        if root is None:
            return TreapNode(key)
        if key < root.key:
            root.left = self.insert(root.left, key)
            if root.left.priority < root.priority:
                root = self._rotate_right(root)
        elif key > root.key:
            root.right = self.insert(root.right, key)
            if root.right.priority < root.priority:
                root = self._rotate_left(root)
        return root

    def delete(self, root, key):
        if root is None:
            return None
        if key < root.key:
            root.left = self.delete(root.left, key)
        elif key > root.key:
            root.right = self.delete(root.right, key)
        else:
            if root.left is None:
                return root.right
            if root.right is None:
                return root.left
            if root.left.priority < root.right.priority:
                root = self._rotate_right(root)
                root.right = self.delete(root.right, key)
            else:
                root = self._rotate_left(root)
                root.left = self.delete(root.left, key)
        return root

Equivalent to a randomly built BST. The expected depth of any node is at most $2 \ln n \approx 1.39 \log_2 n$ . Treaps are simpler to implement than AVL or red-black trees.

Skip Lists

A skip list is a probabilistic alternative to balanced BSTs. It consists of multiple levels of Linked lists, where each higher level is a sparser “express lane” for the level below.

Structure

Level 0: a sorted linked list containing all elements
Level $k$ : contains each element from level $k-1$ with probability $p$ ( $p = 1/2$ )
The maximum level is $O(\log n)$ with high probability

graph TD
    subgraph "Skip List (p = 0.5)"
        L4["L4: 10"]
        L3["L3: 10 --- 30"]
        L2["L2: 10 --- 20 --- 30"]
        L1["L1: 10 --- 20 --- 25 --- 30"]
        L0["L0: 10 -- 15 -- 20 -- 25 -- 27 -- 30 -- 35"]
    end

Implementation

import random

class SkipListNode:
    def __init__(self, key, level):
        self.key = key
        self.forward = [None] * (level + 1)

class SkipList:
    """
    Skip list: probabilistic sorted structure.
    Search: O(log n) expected
    Insert: O(log n) expected
    Delete: O(log n) expected
    Space: O(n) expected
    """
    MAX_LEVEL = 16
    P = 0.5

    def __init__(self):
        self.header = SkipListNode(float("-inf'), self.MAX_LEVEL)
        self.level = 0

    def _random_level(self):
        lvl = 0
        while random.random() < self.P and lvl < self.MAX_LEVEL:
            lvl += 1
        return lvl

    def search(self, key):
        curr = self.header
        for i in range(self.level, -1, -1):
            while curr.forward[i] and curr.forward[i].key < key:
                curr = curr.forward[i]
        curr = curr.forward[0]
        return curr if curr and curr.key == key else None

    def insert(self, key):
        update = [None] * (self.MAX_LEVEL + 1)
        curr = self.header
        for i in range(self.level, -1, -1):
            while curr.forward[i] and curr.forward[i].key < key:
                curr = curr.forward[i]
            update[i] = curr

        curr = curr.forward[0]
        if curr and curr.key == key:
            return

        new_level = self._random_level()
        if new_level > self.level:
            for i in range(self.level + 1, new_level + 1):
                update[i] = self.header
            self.level = new_level

        new_node = SkipListNode(key, new_level)
        for i in range(new_level + 1):
            new_node.forward[i] = update[i].forward[i]
            update[i].forward[i] = new_node

    def delete(self, key):
        update = [None] * (self.MAX_LEVEL + 1)
        curr = self.header
        for i in range(self.level, -1, -1):
            while curr.forward[i] and curr.forward[i].key < key:
                curr = curr.forward[i]
            update[i] = curr

        curr = curr.forward[0]
        if not curr or curr.key != key:
            return

        for i in range(self.level + 1):
            if update[i].forward[i] != curr:
                break
            update[i].forward[i] = curr.forward[i]

        while self.level > 0 and self.header.forward[self.level] is None:
            self.level -= 1

Skip List vs Balanced Tree

Property	Skip List	Balanced Tree
Search	$O(\log n)$ expected	$O(\log n)$ worst
Insert	$O(\log n)$ expected	$O(\log n)$ worst
Concurrent access	Easy (lock-free)	Hard (needs rebalancing)
Implementation	Simple	Complex (rotations)
Memory	$O(n \log n)$ expected	$O(n)$
Cache performance	Poor (pointer chasing)	Moderate

Skip lists are used in Redis (for sorted sets), Apache Lucene, and LevelDB’s memtable. Their Simplicity and lock-friendliness make them popular in concurrent systems.

Common Pitfalls

1. BST Degeneration with Sorted Input

Inserting sorted data into a basic BST creates a degenerate tree (essentially a linked list) with $O(n)$ height. Always use a self-balancing variant (AVL, red-black, treap, splay) unless you are Certain the input is random. Most standard library map implementations already use balanced trees.

2. Incorrect AVL Rotation Cases

The most common bug in AVL tree implementations is applying the wrong rotation case. LL and RR are Single rotations; LR and RL are double rotations. The balance factor of the child determines which Case applies. A balance factor of -2 with a left child balance factor of +1 is LR (not LL).

3. Red-Black Tree NIL Sentinels

Forgetting to use NIL sentinel nodes (or using None instead) is a common source of bugs. All leaf Positions in a red-black tree must be NIL nodes (black), and every real node’s children that are not Real nodes must point to NIL. Using None breaks the black-height invariant and causes null pointer Errors during rotation.

4. B-Tree Node Size Selection

Choosing the node size requires understanding the hardware. On a disk-based system, the node size should match the disk block size ( 4 KB). In memory, larger nodes may benefit from cache Line effects. A node that fits in a single cache line (64 bytes) enables single-instruction Comparisons for the entire node.

5. Splay Tree Worst Case

While splay trees have $O(\log n)$ amortised performance, individual operations can take $O(n)$ Time. If you need strict worst-case guarantees, use AVL or red-black trees instead. Splay trees are also not suitable for real-time systems where latency spikes are unacceptable.

6. Treap Priority Collisions

If two nodes have the same priority, the treap property is violated. Use 64-bit random priorities (collision probability $\approx 10^{-19}$ ) or a deterministic tiebreaker (e.g., compare keys when Priorities are equal). In competitive programming, 32-bit random priorities are sufficient.

7. Skip List Memory Overhead

A skip list with probability $p = 0.5$ uses approximately $2n$ pointers on average (each element Appears in level $i$ with probability $1/2^i$ So expected pointers per element is $\sum_{i=0}^{\infty} 1/2^i = 2$ ). This is more than a balanced tree (which uses $n$ pointers). For Memory-constrained applications, use a lower probability (e.g., $p = 1/4$ ) at the cost of slower Lookups.

8. Modifying Tree During Iteration

When iterating over a BST (inorder, preorder, etc.), modifying the tree structure (inserting, Deleting, or rotating nodes) can cause the iterator to visit nodes incorrectly or loop forever. Either collect all nodes into a list first, or use a concurrent data structure that supports safe Iteration.

Summary

This topic covers the mathematical techniques and concepts related to binary search trees and balanced trees, including key theorems, methods, and problem-solving approaches.

Key concepts include:

complex number arithmetic
Argand diagrams
modulus and argument
De Moivre’s theorem
roots of complex numbers

Regular practice with a variety of question types is essential to build fluency and confidence in applying these mathematical techniques.

Worked Examples

Worked examples demonstrating the application of key concepts are covered in the detailed sub-pages linked above.

Cross-References

Linked Lists and Stacks — Linked lists provide the dynamic memory allocation used in tree node implementations.
Graph Algorithms — Trees are a special case of graphs; BFS and DFS traversal on trees extends to general graph algorithms.
Dynamic Programming — Tree DP and memoisation on tree structures are key techniques in dynamic programming.
Advanced Data Structures — Segment trees and Fenwick trees extend BST principles to range query problems.

Mark this page as reviewed