NIST

complete tree

(data structure)

Definition: A tree in which every level, except possibly the deepest, is entirely filled. At depth n, the height of the tree, all nodes are as far left as possible.

Generalization (I am a kind of ...)
tree.

Specialization (... is a kind of me.)
complete binary tree, perfect k-ary tree.

See also complete graph.

Note: A complete tree may be viewed as a perfect k-ary tree possibly with additional leaf nodes at depth n+1, all toward the left.

What [CLR90, page 95] calls a complete tree, we call a perfect k-ary tree.

Author: PEB


Go to the Dictionary of Algorithms and Data Structures home page.

If you have suggestions, corrections, or comments, please get in touch with Paul Black.

Entry modified 26 May 2011.
HTML page formatted Mon Feb 2 13:10:39 2015.

Cite this as:
Paul E. Black, "complete tree", in Dictionary of Algorithms and Data Structures [online], Vreda Pieterse and Paul E. Black, eds. 26 May 2011. (accessed TODAY) Available from: http://www.nist.gov/dads/HTML/completetree.html