Help me understand Inorder Traversal without using recursion
Solution 1
Start with the recursive algorithm (pseudocode) :
traverse(node):
if node != None do:
traverse(node.left)
print node.value
traverse(node.right)
endif
This is a clear case of tail recursion, so you can easily turn it into a while-loop.
traverse(node):
while node != None do:
traverse(node.left)
print node.value
node = node.right
endwhile
You're left with a recursive call. What the recursive call does is push a new context on the stack, run the code from the beginning, then retrieve the context and keep doing what it was doing. So, you create a stack for storage, and a loop that determines, on every iteration, whether we're in a "first run" situation (non-null node) or a "returning" situation (null node, non-empty stack) and runs the appropriate code:
traverse(node):
stack = []
while !empty(stack) || node != None do:
if node != None do: // this is a normal call, recurse
push(stack,node)
node = node.left
else // we are now returning: pop and print the current node
node = pop(stack)
print node.value
node = node.right
endif
endwhile
The hard thing to grasp is the "return" part: you have to determine, in your loop, whether the code you're running is in the "entering the function" situation or in the "returning from a call" situation, and you will have an if/else chain with as many cases as you have non-terminal recursions in your code.
In this specific situation, we're using the node to keep information about the situation. Another way would be to store that in the stack itself (just like a computer does for recursion). With that technique, the code is less optimal, but easier to follow
traverse(node):
// entry:
if node == NULL do return
traverse(node.left)
// after-left-traversal:
print node.value
traverse(node.right)
traverse(node):
stack = [node,'entry']
while !empty(stack) do:
[node,state] = pop(stack)
switch state:
case 'entry':
if node == None do: break; // return
push(stack,[node,'after-left-traversal']) // store return address
push(stack,[node.left,'entry']) // recursive call
break;
case 'after-left-traversal':
print node.value;
// tail call : no return address
push(stack,[node.right,'entry']) // recursive call
end
endwhile
Solution 2
Here is a simple in-order non-recursive c++ code ..
void inorder (node *n)
{
stack s;
while(n){
s.push(n);
n=n->left;
}
while(!s.empty()){
node *t=s.pop();
cout<<t->data;
t=t->right;
while(t){
s.push(t);
t = t->left;
}
}
}
Solution 3
def print_tree_in(root):
stack = []
current = root
while True:
while current is not None:
stack.append(current)
current = current.getLeft();
if not stack:
return
current = stack.pop()
print current.getValue()
while current.getRight is None and stack:
current = stack.pop()
print current.getValue()
current = current.getRight();
Solution 4
def traverseInorder(node):
lifo = Lifo()
while node is not None:
if node.left is not None:
lifo.push(node)
node = node.left
continue
print node.value
if node.right is not None:
node = node.right
continue
node = lifo.Pop()
if node is not None :
print node.value
node = node.right
PS: I don't know Python so there may be a few syntax issues.
Solution 5
Here is a sample of in order traversal using stack in c# (.net):
(for post order iterative you may refer to: Post order traversal of binary tree without recursion)
public string InOrderIterative()
{
List<int> nodes = new List<int>();
if (null != this._root)
{
Stack<BinaryTreeNode> stack = new Stack<BinaryTreeNode>();
var iterativeNode = this._root;
while(iterativeNode != null)
{
stack.Push(iterativeNode);
iterativeNode = iterativeNode.Left;
}
while(stack.Count > 0)
{
iterativeNode = stack.Pop();
nodes.Add(iterativeNode.Element);
if(iterativeNode.Right != null)
{
stack.Push(iterativeNode.Right);
iterativeNode = iterativeNode.Right.Left;
while(iterativeNode != null)
{
stack.Push(iterativeNode);
iterativeNode = iterativeNode.Left;
}
}
}
}
return this.ListToString(nodes);
}
Here is a sample with visited flag:
public string InorderIterative_VisitedFlag()
{
List<int> nodes = new List<int>();
if (null != this._root)
{
Stack<BinaryTreeNode> stack = new Stack<BinaryTreeNode>();
BinaryTreeNode iterativeNode = null;
stack.Push(this._root);
while(stack.Count > 0)
{
iterativeNode = stack.Pop();
if(iterativeNode.visted)
{
iterativeNode.visted = false;
nodes.Add(iterativeNode.Element);
}
else
{
iterativeNode.visted = true;
if(iterativeNode.Right != null)
{
stack.Push(iterativeNode.Right);
}
stack.Push(iterativeNode);
if (iterativeNode.Left != null)
{
stack.Push(iterativeNode.Left);
}
}
}
}
return this.ListToString(nodes);
}
the definitions of the binarytreenode, listtostring utility:
string ListToString(List<int> list)
{
string s = string.Join(", ", list);
return s;
}
class BinaryTreeNode
{
public int Element;
public BinaryTreeNode Left;
public BinaryTreeNode Right;
}
Srikanth
Updated on November 08, 2021Comments
-
Srikanth over 2 years
I am able to understand preorder traversal without using recursion, but I'm having a hard time with inorder traversal. I just don't seem to get it, perhaps, because I haven't understood the inner working of recursion.
This is what I've tried so far:
def traverseInorder(node): lifo = Lifo() lifo.push(node) while True: if node is None: break if node.left is not None: lifo.push(node.left) node = node.left continue prev = node while True: if node is None: break print node.value prev = node node = lifo.pop() node = prev if node.right is not None: lifo.push(node.right) node = node.right else: breakThe inner while-loop just doesn't feel right. Also, some of the elements are getting printed twice; may be I can solve this by checking if that node has been printed before, but that requires another variable, which, again, doesn't feel right. Where am I going wrong?
I haven't tried postorder traversal, but I guess it's similar and I will face the same conceptual blockage there, too.
Thanks for your time!
P.S.: Definitions of
LifoandNode:class Node: def __init__(self, value, left=None, right=None): self.value = value self.left = left self.right = right class Lifo: def __init__(self): self.lifo = () def push(self, data): self.lifo = (data, self.lifo) def pop(self): if len(self.lifo) == 0: return None ret, self.lifo = self.lifo return ret