Trees and Graphs in Algorithms 🌲🌐
What are Trees?
A tree is a hierarchical data structure consisting of nodes connected by edges, with no cycles. It's widely used in algorithms for tasks like:
- Binary Search Trees (BST) for efficient searching 📊
- Trie structures for prefix-based data storage 🔍
- Tree Traversals (DFS, BFS) for exploring nodes 🔄
Graph Theory Basics
A graph represents relationships between entities using nodes (vertices) and edges. Key concepts include:
- Directed vs. Undirected Graphs ⚡
- Cycles and Paths 🕶️
- Adjacency List/Matrix for storage 📋
Common Algorithms
- Depth-First Search (DFS) 🕵️♂️
- Breadth-First Search (BFS) 🧭
- Dijkstra’s Algorithm for shortest paths 🚗
- Kruskal’s Algorithm for Minimum Spanning Trees 🌐
For deeper exploration, check our tutorial on Graph Representation to learn how to implement these structures in code.