[python] How to implement a binary tree?

Which is the best data structure that can be used to implement a binary tree in Python?

This question is related to python algorithm search data-structures binary-tree

The answer is


A Node-based class of connected nodes is a standard approach. These can be hard to visualize.

Motivated from an essay on Python Patterns - Implementing Graphs, consider a simple dictionary:

Given

A binary tree

               a
              / \
             b   c
            / \   \
           d   e   f

Code

Make a dictionary of unique nodes:

tree = {
   "a": ["b", "c"],
   "b": ["d", "e"],
   "c": [None, "f"],
   "d": [None, None],
   "e": [None, None],
   "f": [None, None],
}

Details

  • Each key-value pair is a unique node pointing to its children.
  • A list (or tuple) holds an ordered pair of left/right children.
  • With a dict having ordered insertion, assume the first entry is the root.
  • Common methods can be functions that mutate or traverse the dict (see find_all_paths()).

Tree-based functions often include the following common operations:

  • traverse: yield each node in a given order (usually left-to-right)
    • breadth-first search (BFS): traverse levels
    • depth-first search (DFS): traverse branches first (pre-/in-/post-order)
  • insert: add a node to the tree depending on the number of children
  • remove: remove a node depending on the number of children
  • update: merge missing nodes from one tree to the other
  • visit: yield the value of a traversed node

Try implementing all of these operations. Here we demonstrate one of these functions - a BFS traversal:

Example

import collections as ct


def traverse(tree):
    """Yield nodes from a tree via BFS."""
    q = ct.deque()                                         # 1
    root = next(iter(tree))                                # 2
    q.append(root)

    while q:
        node = q.popleft()
        children = filter(None, tree.get(node))
        for n in children:                                 # 3 
            q.append(n)
        yield node

list(traverse(tree))
# ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f']

This is a breadth-first search (level-order) algorithm applied to a dict of nodes and children.

  1. Initialize a FIFO queue. We use a deque, but a queue or a list works (the latter is inefficient).
  2. Get and enqueue the root node (assumes the root is the first entry in the dict, Python 3.6+).
  3. Iteratively dequeue a node, enqueue its children and yield the node value.

See also this in-depth tutorial on trees.


Insight

Something great about traversals in general, we can easily alter the latter iterative approach to depth-first search (DFS) by simply replacing the queue with a stack (a.k.a LIFO Queue). This simply means we dequeue from the same side that we enqueue. DFS allows us to search each branch.

How? Since we are using a deque, we can emulate a stack by changing node = q.popleft() to node = q.pop() (right). The result is a right-favored, pre-ordered DFS: ['a', 'c', 'f', 'b', 'e', 'd'].


Here is a simple solution which can be used to build a binary tree using a recursive approach to display the tree in order traversal has been used in the below code.

class Node(object):

    def __init__(self):
        self.left = None
        self.right = None
        self.value = None
    @property
    def get_value(self):
        return self.value

    @property
    def get_left(self):
        return self.left

    @property
    def get_right(self):
        return self.right

    @get_left.setter
    def set_left(self, left_node):
        self.left = left_node
    @get_value.setter
    def set_value(self, value):
        self.value = value
    @get_right.setter
    def set_right(self, right_node):
        self.right = right_node



    def create_tree(self):
        _node = Node() #creating new node.
        _x = input("Enter the node data(-1 for null)")
        if(_x == str(-1)): #for defining no child.
            return None
        _node.set_value = _x #setting the value of the node.
        print("Enter the left child of {}".format(_x))
        _node.set_left = self.create_tree() #setting the left subtree
        print("Enter the right child of {}".format(_x))
        _node.set_right = self.create_tree() #setting the right subtree.

        return _node

    def pre_order(self, root):
        if root is not None:
            print(root.get_value)
            self.pre_order(root.get_left)
            self.pre_order(root.get_right)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    node = Node()
    root_node = node.create_tree()
    node.pre_order(root_node)

Code taken from : Binary Tree in Python


#!/usr/bin/python

class BinaryTree:
    def __init__(self, left, right, data):
        self.left = left
        self.right = right
        self.data = data


    def pre_order_traversal(root):
        print(root.data, end=' ')

        if root.left != None:
            pre_order_traversal(root.left)

        if root.right != None:
            pre_order_traversal(root.right)

    def in_order_traversal(root):
        if root.left != None:
            in_order_traversal(root.left)
        print(root.data, end=' ')
        if root.right != None:
            in_order_traversal(root.right)

    def post_order_traversal(root):
        if root.left != None:
            post_order_traversal(root.left)
        if root.right != None:
            post_order_traversal(root.right)
        print(root.data, end=' ')

A little more "Pythonic" ?

class Node:
    def __init__(self, value):
        self.value = value
        self.left = None
        self.right = None

    def __repr__(self):
        return str(self.value)



class BST:
    def __init__(self):
        self.root = None

    def __repr__(self):
        self.sorted = []
        self.get_inorder(self.root)
        return str(self.sorted)

    def get_inorder(self, node):
        if node:
            self.get_inorder(node.left)
            self.sorted.append(str(node.value))
            self.get_inorder(node.right)

    def add(self, value):
        if not self.root:
            self.root = Node(value)
        else:
            self._add(self.root, value)

    def _add(self, node, value):
        if value <= node.value:
            if node.left:
                self._add(node.left, value)
            else:
                node.left = Node(value)
        else:
            if node.right:
                self._add(node.right, value)
            else:
                node.right = Node(value)



from random import randint

bst = BST()

for i in range(100):
    bst.add(randint(1, 1000))
print (bst)

you don't need to have two classes

class Tree:
    val = None
    left = None
    right = None

    def __init__(self, val):
        self.val = val


    def insert(self, val):
        if self.val is not None:
            if val < self.val:
                if self.left is not None:
                    self.left.insert(val)
                else:
                    self.left = Tree(val)
            elif val > self.val:
                if self.right is not None:
                    self.right.insert(val)
                else:
                    self.right = Tree(val)
            else:
                return
        else:
            self.val = val
            print("new node added")

    def showTree(self):
        if self.left is not None:
            self.left.showTree()
        print(self.val, end = ' ')
        if self.right is not None:
            self.right.showTree()

You can make your own BinaryTree data structure in Python the OOP way (or building a class). You can separate two class in here: Node and BinaryTree. The "Node" class will be responsible for creating individual node objects for the BinaryTree while the "BinaryTree" class is what you'll need to implement the binary tree on top of the "Node" class.

Here's what I coded when I'm studying it back then:

class TreeNode:

    def __init__(self, data=None):
        self.data = data
        self.left = None
        self.right = None

    def __str__(self):
        return f'Node(Data={self.data}, Left={self.left}, Right={self.right})'

    def __repr__(self):
        return self.__str__()

    def get_data(self):
        return self.data

    def set_data(self, data):
        self.data = data

    def get_left(self):
        return self.left

    def set_left(self, left):
        self.left = left

    def get_right(self):
        return self.right

    def set_right(self, right):
        self.right = right

class BinaryTree:

    def __init__(self, root=None):
        self.root = TreeNode(root)

    def __str__(self):
        return f'BinaryTree({self.root})'

    def __repr__(self):
        return f'BinaryTree({self.root})'

    def insert(self, data):
        # if empty tree
        if self.root.get_data() is None:
            return self.root.set_data(data)
        new_node = TreeNode(data)
        current = self.root
        while True:
            if data < current.get_data():
                if current.get_left() is None:
                    return current.set_left(new_node)
                current = current.get_left()
                continue
            elif data > current.get_data():
                if current.get_right() is None:
                    return current.set_right(new_node)
                current = current.get_right()
                continue
            return

    # still needs other methods like the delete method, but you can
    # try it out yourself
    def delete(self, node):
        pass

def main():
    myTree = BinaryTree()
    myTree.insert(5)
    myTree.insert(3)
    myTree.insert(4)
    myTree.insert(2)
    myTree.insert(8)
    myTree.insert(9)
    myTree.insert(6)
    print(myTree)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

A good implementation of binary search tree, taken from here:

'''
A binary search Tree
'''
from __future__ import print_function
class Node:

    def __init__(self, label, parent):
        self.label = label
        self.left = None
        self.right = None
        #Added in order to delete a node easier
        self.parent = parent

    def getLabel(self):
        return self.label

    def setLabel(self, label):
        self.label = label

    def getLeft(self):
        return self.left

    def setLeft(self, left):
        self.left = left

    def getRight(self):
        return self.right

    def setRight(self, right):
        self.right = right

    def getParent(self):
        return self.parent

    def setParent(self, parent):
        self.parent = parent

class BinarySearchTree:

    def __init__(self):
        self.root = None

    def insert(self, label):
        # Create a new Node
        new_node = Node(label, None)
        # If Tree is empty
        if self.empty():
            self.root = new_node
        else:
            #If Tree is not empty
            curr_node = self.root
            #While we don't get to a leaf
            while curr_node is not None:
                #We keep reference of the parent node
                parent_node = curr_node
                #If node label is less than current node
                if new_node.getLabel() < curr_node.getLabel():
                #We go left
                    curr_node = curr_node.getLeft()
                else:
                    #Else we go right
                    curr_node = curr_node.getRight()
            #We insert the new node in a leaf
            if new_node.getLabel() < parent_node.getLabel():
                parent_node.setLeft(new_node)
            else:
                parent_node.setRight(new_node)
            #Set parent to the new node
            new_node.setParent(parent_node)      

    def delete(self, label):
        if (not self.empty()):
            #Look for the node with that label
            node = self.getNode(label)
            #If the node exists
            if(node is not None):
                #If it has no children
                if(node.getLeft() is None and node.getRight() is None):
                    self.__reassignNodes(node, None)
                    node = None
                #Has only right children
                elif(node.getLeft() is None and node.getRight() is not None):
                    self.__reassignNodes(node, node.getRight())
                #Has only left children
                elif(node.getLeft() is not None and node.getRight() is None):
                    self.__reassignNodes(node, node.getLeft())
                #Has two children
                else:
                    #Gets the max value of the left branch
                    tmpNode = self.getMax(node.getLeft())
                    #Deletes the tmpNode
                    self.delete(tmpNode.getLabel())
                    #Assigns the value to the node to delete and keesp tree structure
                    node.setLabel(tmpNode.getLabel())

    def getNode(self, label):
        curr_node = None
        #If the tree is not empty
        if(not self.empty()):
            #Get tree root
            curr_node = self.getRoot()
            #While we don't find the node we look for
            #I am using lazy evaluation here to avoid NoneType Attribute error
            while curr_node is not None and curr_node.getLabel() is not label:
                #If node label is less than current node
                if label < curr_node.getLabel():
                    #We go left
                    curr_node = curr_node.getLeft()
                else:
                    #Else we go right
                    curr_node = curr_node.getRight()
        return curr_node

    def getMax(self, root = None):
        if(root is not None):
            curr_node = root
        else:
            #We go deep on the right branch
            curr_node = self.getRoot()
        if(not self.empty()):
            while(curr_node.getRight() is not None):
                curr_node = curr_node.getRight()
        return curr_node

    def getMin(self, root = None):
        if(root is not None):
            curr_node = root
        else:
            #We go deep on the left branch
            curr_node = self.getRoot()
        if(not self.empty()):
            curr_node = self.getRoot()
            while(curr_node.getLeft() is not None):
                curr_node = curr_node.getLeft()
        return curr_node

    def empty(self):
        if self.root is None:
            return True
        return False

    def __InOrderTraversal(self, curr_node):
        nodeList = []
        if curr_node is not None:
            nodeList.insert(0, curr_node)
            nodeList = nodeList + self.__InOrderTraversal(curr_node.getLeft())
            nodeList = nodeList + self.__InOrderTraversal(curr_node.getRight())
        return nodeList

    def getRoot(self):
        return self.root

    def __isRightChildren(self, node):
        if(node == node.getParent().getRight()):
            return True
        return False

    def __reassignNodes(self, node, newChildren):
        if(newChildren is not None):
            newChildren.setParent(node.getParent())
        if(node.getParent() is not None):
            #If it is the Right Children
            if(self.__isRightChildren(node)):
                node.getParent().setRight(newChildren)
            else:
                #Else it is the left children
                node.getParent().setLeft(newChildren)

    #This function traversal the tree. By default it returns an
    #In order traversal list. You can pass a function to traversal
    #The tree as needed by client code
    def traversalTree(self, traversalFunction = None, root = None):
        if(traversalFunction is None):
            #Returns a list of nodes in preOrder by default
            return self.__InOrderTraversal(self.root)
        else:
            #Returns a list of nodes in the order that the users wants to
            return traversalFunction(self.root)

    #Returns an string of all the nodes labels in the list 
    #In Order Traversal
    def __str__(self):
        list = self.__InOrderTraversal(self.root)
        str = ""
        for x in list:
            str = str + " " + x.getLabel().__str__()
        return str

def InPreOrder(curr_node):
    nodeList = []
    if curr_node is not None:
        nodeList = nodeList + InPreOrder(curr_node.getLeft())
        nodeList.insert(0, curr_node.getLabel())
        nodeList = nodeList + InPreOrder(curr_node.getRight())
    return nodeList

def testBinarySearchTree():
    r'''
    Example
                  8
                 / \
                3   10
               / \    \
              1   6    14
                 / \   /
                4   7 13 
    '''

    r'''
    Example After Deletion
                  7
                 / \
                1   4

    '''
    t = BinarySearchTree()
    t.insert(8)
    t.insert(3)
    t.insert(6)
    t.insert(1)
    t.insert(10)
    t.insert(14)
    t.insert(13)
    t.insert(4)
    t.insert(7)

    #Prints all the elements of the list in order traversal
    print(t.__str__())

    if(t.getNode(6) is not None):
        print("The label 6 exists")
    else:
        print("The label 6 doesn't exist")

    if(t.getNode(-1) is not None):
        print("The label -1 exists")
    else:
        print("The label -1 doesn't exist")

    if(not t.empty()):
        print(("Max Value: ", t.getMax().getLabel()))
        print(("Min Value: ", t.getMin().getLabel()))

    t.delete(13)
    t.delete(10)
    t.delete(8)
    t.delete(3)
    t.delete(6)
    t.delete(14)

    #Gets all the elements of the tree In pre order
    #And it prints them
    list = t.traversalTree(InPreOrder, t.root)
    for x in list:
        print(x)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    testBinarySearchTree()

I can't help but notice that most answers here are implementing a Binary Search Tree. Binary Search Tree != Binary Tree.

  • A Binary Search Tree has a very specific property: for any node X, X's key is larger than the key of any descendent of its left child, and smaller than the key of any descendant of its right child.

  • A Binary Tree imposes no such restriction. A Binary Tree is simply a data structure with a 'key' element, and two children, say 'left' and 'right'.

  • A Tree is an even more general case of a Binary Tree where each node can have an arbitrary number of children. Typically, each node has a 'children' element which is of type list/array.

Now, to answer the OP's question, I am including a full implementation of a Binary Tree in Python. The underlying data structure storing each BinaryTreeNode is a dictionary, given it offers optimal O(1) lookups. I've also implemented depth-first and breadth-first traversals. These are very common operations performed on trees.

from collections import deque

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

    def __repr__(self):
        return "%s l: (%s) r: (%s)" % (self.key, self.left, self.right)

    def __eq__(self, other):
        if self.key == other.key and \
            self.right == other.right and \
                self.left == other.left:
            return True
        else:
            return False

class BinaryTree:
    def __init__(self, root_key=None):
        # maps from BinaryTreeNode key to BinaryTreeNode instance.
        # Thus, BinaryTreeNode keys must be unique.
        self.nodes = {}
        if root_key is not None:
            # create a root BinaryTreeNode
            self.root = BinaryTreeNode(root_key)
            self.nodes[root_key] = self.root

    def add(self, key, left_key=None, right_key=None):
        if key not in self.nodes:
            # BinaryTreeNode with given key does not exist, create it
            self.nodes[key] = BinaryTreeNode(key)
        # invariant: self.nodes[key] exists

        # handle left child
        if left_key is None:
            self.nodes[key].left = None
        else:
            if left_key not in self.nodes:
                self.nodes[left_key] = BinaryTreeNode(left_key)
            # invariant: self.nodes[left_key] exists
            self.nodes[key].left = self.nodes[left_key]

        # handle right child
        if right_key == None:
            self.nodes[key].right = None
        else:
            if right_key not in self.nodes:
                self.nodes[right_key] = BinaryTreeNode(right_key)
            # invariant: self.nodes[right_key] exists
            self.nodes[key].right = self.nodes[right_key]

    def remove(self, key):
        if key not in self.nodes:
            raise ValueError('%s not in tree' % key)
        # remove key from the list of nodes
        del self.nodes[key]
        # if node removed is left/right child, update parent node
        for k in self.nodes:
            if self.nodes[k].left and self.nodes[k].left.key == key:
                self.nodes[k].left = None
            if self.nodes[k].right and self.nodes[k].right.key == key:
                self.nodes[k].right = None
        return True

    def _height(self, node):
        if node is None:
            return 0
        else:
            return 1 + max(self._height(node.left), self._height(node.right))

    def height(self):
        return self._height(self.root)

    def size(self):
        return len(self.nodes)

    def __repr__(self):
        return str(self.traverse_inorder(self.root))

    def bfs(self, node):
        if not node or node not in self.nodes:
            return
        reachable = []    
        q = deque()
        # add starting node to queue
        q.append(node)
        while len(q):
            visit = q.popleft()
            # add currently visited BinaryTreeNode to list
            reachable.append(visit)
            # add left/right children as needed
            if visit.left:
                q.append(visit.left)
            if visit.right:
                q.append(visit.right)
        return reachable

    # visit left child, root, then right child
    def traverse_inorder(self, node, reachable=None):
        if not node or node.key not in self.nodes:
            return
        if reachable is None:
            reachable = []
        self.traverse_inorder(node.left, reachable)
        reachable.append(node.key)
        self.traverse_inorder(node.right, reachable)
        return reachable

    # visit left and right children, then root
    # root of tree is always last to be visited
    def traverse_postorder(self, node, reachable=None):
        if not node or node.key not in self.nodes:
            return
        if reachable is None:
            reachable = []
        self.traverse_postorder(node.left, reachable)
        self.traverse_postorder(node.right, reachable)
        reachable.append(node.key)
        return reachable

    # visit root, left, then right children
    # root is always visited first
    def traverse_preorder(self, node, reachable=None):
        if not node or node.key not in self.nodes:
            return
        if reachable is None:
            reachable = []
        reachable.append(node.key)
        self.traverse_preorder(node.left, reachable)
        self.traverse_preorder(node.right, reachable)
        return reachable

Here is my simple recursive implementation of binary search tree.

#!/usr/bin/python

class Node:
    def __init__(self, val):
        self.l = None
        self.r = None
        self.v = val

class Tree:
    def __init__(self):
        self.root = None

    def getRoot(self):
        return self.root

    def add(self, val):
        if self.root is None:
            self.root = Node(val)
        else:
            self._add(val, self.root)

    def _add(self, val, node):
        if val < node.v:
            if node.l is not None:
                self._add(val, node.l)
            else:
                node.l = Node(val)
        else:
            if node.r is not None:
                self._add(val, node.r)
            else:
                node.r = Node(val)

    def find(self, val):
        if self.root is not None:
            return self._find(val, self.root)
        else:
            return None

    def _find(self, val, node):
        if val == node.v:
            return node
        elif (val < node.v and node.l is not None):
            self._find(val, node.l)
        elif (val > node.v and node.r is not None):
            self._find(val, node.r)

    def deleteTree(self):
        # garbage collector will do this for us. 
        self.root = None

    def printTree(self):
        if self.root is not None:
            self._printTree(self.root)

    def _printTree(self, node):
        if node is not None:
            self._printTree(node.l)
            print(str(node.v) + ' ')
            self._printTree(node.r)

#     3
# 0     4
#   2      8
tree = Tree()
tree.add(3)
tree.add(4)
tree.add(0)
tree.add(8)
tree.add(2)
tree.printTree()
print(tree.find(3).v)
print(tree.find(10))
tree.deleteTree()
tree.printTree()

Binary Tree in Python

 class Tree(object):
    def __init__(self):
        self.data=None
        self.left=None
        self.right=None
    def insert(self, x, root):
        if root==None:
            t=node(x)
            t.data=x
            t.right=None
            t.left=None
            root=t
            return root
        elif x<root.data:
            root.left=self.insert(x, root.left)
        else:
            root.right=self.insert(x, root.right)
        return root

    def printTree(self, t):
        if t==None:
            return

        self.printTree(t.left)
        print t.data
        self.printTree(t.right)

class node(object):
    def __init__(self, x):
        self.x=x

bt=Tree()
root=None
n=int(raw_input())
a=[]
for i in range(n):
    a.append(int(raw_input()))
for i in range(n):
    root=bt.insert(a[i], root)
bt.printTree(root)

import random

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

class BinaryTree:
    def __init__(self):
        self.root = None

    def length(self):
        return self.size

    def inorder(self, node):
        if node == None:
            return None
        else:
            self.inorder(node.left)
            print node.key,
            self.inorder(node.right)

    def search(self, k):
        node = self.root
        while node != None:
            if node.key == k:
                return node
            if node.key > k:
                node = node.left
            else:
                node = node.right
        return None

    def minimum(self, node):
        x = None
        while node.left != None:
            x = node.left
            node = node.left
        return x

    def maximum(self, node):
        x = None
        while node.right != None:
            x = node.right
            node = node.right
        return x

    def successor(self, node):
        parent = None
        if node.right != None:
            return self.minimum(node.right)
        parent = node.p
        while parent != None and node == parent.right:
            node = parent
            parent = parent.p
        return parent

    def predecessor(self, node):
        parent = None
        if node.left != None:
            return self.maximum(node.left)
        parent = node.p
        while parent != None and node == parent.left:
            node = parent
            parent = parent.p
        return parent

    def insert(self, k):
        t = TreeNode(k)
        parent = None
        node = self.root
        while node != None:
            parent = node
            if node.key > t.key:
                node = node.left
            else:
                node = node.right
        t.p = parent
        if parent == None:
            self.root = t
        elif t.key < parent.key:
            parent.left = t
        else:
            parent.right = t
        return t


    def delete(self, node):
        if node.left == None:
            self.transplant(node, node.right)
        elif node.right == None:
            self.transplant(node, node.left)
        else:
            succ = self.minimum(node.right)
            if succ.p != node:
                self.transplant(succ, succ.right)
                succ.right = node.right
                succ.right.p = succ
            self.transplant(node, succ)
            succ.left = node.left
            succ.left.p = succ

    def transplant(self, node, newnode):
        if node.p == None:
            self.root = newnode
        elif node == node.p.left:
            node.p.left = newnode
        else:
            node.p.right = newnode
        if newnode != None:
            newnode.p = node.p

# simple binary tree
# in this implementation, a node is inserted between an existing node and the root


class BinaryTree():

    def __init__(self,rootid):
      self.left = None
      self.right = None
      self.rootid = rootid

    def getLeftChild(self):
        return self.left
    def getRightChild(self):
        return self.right
    def setNodeValue(self,value):
        self.rootid = value
    def getNodeValue(self):
        return self.rootid

    def insertRight(self,newNode):
        if self.right == None:
            self.right = BinaryTree(newNode)
        else:
            tree = BinaryTree(newNode)
            tree.right = self.right
            self.right = tree

    def insertLeft(self,newNode):
        if self.left == None:
            self.left = BinaryTree(newNode)
        else:
            tree = BinaryTree(newNode)
            tree.left = self.left
            self.left = tree


def printTree(tree):
        if tree != None:
            printTree(tree.getLeftChild())
            print(tree.getNodeValue())
            printTree(tree.getRightChild())



# test tree

def testTree():
    myTree = BinaryTree("Maud")
    myTree.insertLeft("Bob")
    myTree.insertRight("Tony")
    myTree.insertRight("Steven")
    printTree(myTree)

Read more about it Here:-This is a very simple implementation of a binary tree.

This is a nice tutorial with questions in between


This implementation supports insert, find and delete operations without destroy the structure of the tree. This is not a banlanced tree.

# Class for construct the nodes of the tree. (Subtrees)
class Node:
def __init__(self, key, parent_node = None):
    self.left = None
    self.right = None
    self.key = key
    if parent_node == None:
        self.parent = self
    else:
        self.parent = parent_node

# Class with the  structure of the tree. 
# This Tree is not balanced.
class Tree:
def __init__(self):
    self.root = None

# Insert a single element
def insert(self, x):
    if(self.root == None):
        self.root = Node(x)
    else:
        self._insert(x, self.root)

def _insert(self, x, node):
    if(x < node.key):
        if(node.left == None):
            node.left = Node(x, node)
        else:
            self._insert(x, node.left)
    else:
        if(node.right == None):
            node.right = Node(x, node)
        else:
            self._insert(x, node.right)

# Given a element, return a node in the tree with key x. 
def find(self, x):
    if(self.root == None):
        return None
    else:
        return self._find(x, self.root)
def _find(self, x, node):
    if(x == node.key):
        return node
    elif(x < node.key):
        if(node.left == None):
            return None
        else:
            return self._find(x, node.left)
    elif(x > node.key):
        if(node.right == None):
            return None
        else:
            return self._find(x, node.right)

# Given a node, return the node in the tree with the next largest element.
def next(self, node):
    if node.right != None:
        return self._left_descendant(node.right)
    else:
        return self._right_ancestor(node)

def _left_descendant(self, node):
    if node.left == None:
        return node
    else:
        return self._left_descendant(node.left)

def _right_ancestor(self, node):
    if node.key <= node.parent.key:
        return node.parent
    else:
        return self._right_ancestor(node.parent)

# Delete an element of the tree
def delete(self, x):
    node = self.find(x)
    if node == None:
        print(x, "isn't in the tree")
    else:
        if node.right == None:
            if node.left == None:
                if node.key < node.parent.key:
                    node.parent.left = None
                    del node # Clean garbage
                else:
                    node.parent.right = None
                    del Node # Clean garbage
            else:
                node.key = node.left.key
                node.left = None
        else:
            x = self.next(node)
            node.key = x.key
            x = None


# tests
t = Tree()
t.insert(5)
t.insert(8)
t.insert(3)
t.insert(4)
t.insert(6)
t.insert(2)

t.delete(8)
t.delete(5)

t.insert(9)
t.insert(1)

t.delete(2)
t.delete(100)

# Remember: Find method return the node object. 
# To return a number use t.find(nÂș).key
# But it will cause an error if the number is not in the tree.
print(t.find(5)) 
print(t.find(8))
print(t.find(4))
print(t.find(6))
print(t.find(9))

class Node:
    """
    single Node for tree
    """

    def __init__(self, data):
        self.data = data
        self.right = None
        self.left = None


class binaryTree:
    """
    binary tree implementation
    """

    def __init__(self):
        self.root = None

    def push(self, element, node=None):
        if node is None:
            node = self.root

        if self.root is None:
            self.root = Node(element)

        else:
            if element < node.data:
                if node.left is not None:
                    self.push(element, node.left)
                else:
                    node.left = Node(element)
            else:
                if node.right is not None:
                    self.push(element, node.right)
                else:
                    node.right = Node(element)

    def __str__(self):
        self.printInorder(self.root)
        return "\n"

    def printInorder(self, node):
        """
        print tree in inorder
        """
        if node is not None:
            self.printInorder(node.left)
            print(node.data)
            self.printInorder(node.right)


def main():
    """
    Main code and logic comes here
    """
    tree = binaryTree()
    tree.push(5)
    tree.push(3)
    tree.push(1)
    tree.push(3)
    tree.push(0)
    tree.push(2)
    tree.push(9)
    tree.push(10)
    print(tree)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

Simple implementation of BST in Python

class TreeNode:
    def __init__(self, value):
        self.left = None
        self.right = None
        self.data = value

class Tree:
    def __init__(self):
        self.root = None

    def addNode(self, node, value):
        if(node==None):
            self.root = TreeNode(value)
        else:
            if(value<node.data):
                if(node.left==None):
                    node.left = TreeNode(value)
                else:
                    self.addNode(node.left, value)
            else:
                if(node.right==None):
                    node.right = TreeNode(value)
                else:
                    self.addNode(node.right, value)

    def printInorder(self, node):
        if(node!=None):
            self.printInorder(node.left)
            print(node.data)
            self.printInorder(node.right)

def main():
    testTree = Tree()
    testTree.addNode(testTree.root, 200)
    testTree.addNode(testTree.root, 300)
    testTree.addNode(testTree.root, 100)
    testTree.addNode(testTree.root, 30)
    testTree.printInorder(testTree.root)

A very quick 'n dirty way of implementing a binary tree using lists. Not the most efficient, nor does it handle nil values all too well. But it's very transparent (at least to me):

def _add(node, v):
    new = [v, [], []]
    if node:
        left, right = node[1:]
        if not left:
            left.extend(new)
        elif not right:
            right.extend(new)
        else:
            _add(left, v)
    else:
        node.extend(new)

def binary_tree(s):
    root = []
    for e in s:
        _add(root, e)
    return root

def traverse(n, order):
    if n:
        v = n[0]
        if order == 'pre':
            yield v
        for left in traverse(n[1], order):
            yield left
        if order == 'in':
            yield v
        for right in traverse(n[2], order):
            yield right
        if order == 'post':
            yield v

Constructing a tree from an iterable:

 >>> tree = binary_tree('A B C D E'.split())
 >>> print tree
 ['A', ['B', ['D', [], []], ['E', [], []]], ['C', [], []]]

Traversing a tree:

 >>> list(traverse(tree, 'pre')), list(traverse(tree, 'in')), list(traverse(tree, 'post'))
 (['A', 'B', 'D', 'E', 'C'],
  ['D', 'B', 'E', 'A', 'C'],
  ['D', 'E', 'B', 'C', 'A'])

I know many good solutions have already been posted but I usually have a different approach for binary trees: going with some Node class and implementing it directly is more readable but when you have a lot of nodes it can become very greedy regarding memory, so I suggest adding one layer of complexity and storing the nodes in a python list, and then simulating a tree behavior using only the list.

You can still define a Node class to finally represent the nodes in the tree when needed, but keeping them in a simple form [value, left, right] in a list will use half the memory or less!

Here is a quick example of a Binary Search Tree class storing the nodes in an array. It provides basic fonctions such as add, remove, find...

"""
Basic Binary Search Tree class without recursion...
"""

__author__ = "@fbparis"

class Node(object):
    __slots__ = "value", "parent", "left", "right"
    def __init__(self, value, parent=None, left=None, right=None):
        self.value = value
        self.parent = parent
        self.left = left
        self.right = right

    def __repr__(self):
        return "<%s object at %s: parent=%s, left=%s, right=%s, value=%s>" % (self.__class__.__name__, hex(id(self)), self.parent, self.left, self.right, self.value)

class BinarySearchTree(object):
    __slots__ = "_tree"
    def __init__(self, *args):
        self._tree = []
        if args:
            for x in args[0]:
                self.add(x)

    def __len__(self):
        return len(self._tree)

    def __repr__(self):
        return "<%s object at %s with %d nodes>" % (self.__class__.__name__, hex(id(self)), len(self))

    def __str__(self, nodes=None, level=0):
        ret = ""
        if nodes is None:
            if len(self):
                nodes = [0]
            else:
                nodes = []
        for node in nodes:
            if node is None:
                continue
            ret += "-" * level + " %s\n" % self._tree[node][0]
            ret += self.__str__(self._tree[node][2:4], level + 1)
        if level == 0:
            ret = ret.strip()
        return ret

    def __contains__(self, value):
        if len(self):
            node_index = 0
            while self._tree[node_index][0] != value:
                if value < self._tree[node_index][0]:
                    node_index = self._tree[node_index][2]
                else:
                    node_index = self._tree[node_index][3]
                if node_index is None:
                    return False
            return True
        return False

    def __eq__(self, other):
        return self._tree == other._tree

    def add(self, value):
        if len(self):
            node_index = 0
            while self._tree[node_index][0] != value:
                if value < self._tree[node_index][0]:
                    b = self._tree[node_index][2]
                    k = 2
                else:
                    b = self._tree[node_index][3]
                    k = 3
                if b is None:
                    self._tree[node_index][k] = len(self)
                    self._tree.append([value, node_index, None, None])
                    break
                node_index = b
        else:
            self._tree.append([value, None, None, None])

    def remove(self, value):
        if len(self):
            node_index = 0
            while self._tree[node_index][0] != value:
                if value < self._tree[node_index][0]:
                    node_index = self._tree[node_index][2]
                else:
                    node_index = self._tree[node_index][3]
                if node_index is None:
                    raise KeyError
            if self._tree[node_index][2] is not None:
                b, d = 2, 3
            elif self._tree[node_index][3] is not None:
                b, d = 3, 2
            else:
                i = node_index
                b = None
            if b is not None:
                i = self._tree[node_index][b]
                while self._tree[i][d] is not None:
                    i = self._tree[i][d]
                p = self._tree[i][1]
                b = self._tree[i][b]
                if p == node_index:
                    self._tree[p][5-d] = b
                else:
                    self._tree[p][d] = b
                if b is not None:
                    self._tree[b][1] = p
                self._tree[node_index][0] = self._tree[i][0]
            else:
                p = self._tree[i][1]
                if p is not None:
                    if self._tree[p][2] == i:
                        self._tree[p][2] = None
                    else:
                        self._tree[p][3] = None
            last = self._tree.pop()
            n = len(self)
            if i < n:
                self._tree[i] = last[:]
                if last[2] is not None:
                    self._tree[last[2]][1] = i
                if last[3] is not None:
                    self._tree[last[3]][1] = i
                if self._tree[last[1]][2] == n:
                    self._tree[last[1]][2] = i
                else:
                    self._tree[last[1]][3] = i
        else:
            raise KeyError

    def find(self, value):
        if len(self):
            node_index = 0
            while self._tree[node_index][0] != value:
                if value < self._tree[node_index][0]:
                    node_index = self._tree[node_index][2]
                else:
                    node_index = self._tree[node_index][3]
                if node_index is None:
                    return None
            return Node(*self._tree[node_index])
        return None

I've added a parent attribute so that you can remove any node and maintain the BST structure.

Sorry for the readability, especially for the "remove" function. Basically, when a node is removed, we pop the tree array and replace it with the last element (except if we wanted to remove the last node). To maintain the BST structure, the removed node is replaced with the max of its left children or the min of its right children and some operations have to be done in order to keep the indexes valid but it's fast enough.

I used this technique for more advanced stuff to build some big words dictionaries with an internal radix trie and I was able to divide memory consumption by 7-8 (you can see an example here: https://gist.github.com/fbparis/b3ddd5673b603b42c880974b23db7cda)


I want to show a variation of @apadana's method, which is more useful when there is a considerable number of nodes:

'''
Suppose we have the following tree
      10
    /    \
  11      9
 /  \     / \
7   12  15   8
'''
# Step 1 - Create nodes - Use a list instead of defining each node separately
nlist = [10,11,7,9,15,8,12]; n = []
for i in range(len(nlist)): n.append(Node(nlist[i]))

# Step 2 - Set each node position
n[0].left  = n[1]
n[1].left = n[2]
n[0].right = n[3]
n[3].left = n[4]
n[3].right = n[5]
n[1].right = n[6]

[What you need for interviews] A Node class is the sufficient data structure to represent a binary tree.

(While other answers are mostly correct, they are not required for a binary tree: no need to extend object class, no need to be a BST, no need to import deque).

class Node:

    def __init__(self, value = None):
        self.left  = None
        self.right = None
        self.value = value

Here is an example of a tree:

n1 = Node(1)
n2 = Node(2)
n3 = Node(3)
n1.left  = n2
n1.right = n3

In this example n1 is the root of the tree having n2, n3 as its children.

enter image description here


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