concept binary tree in category functional programming

This is an excerpt from Manning's book Functional Programming in Java: How functional techniques improve your Java programs. Login to get full access to this book.

Data trees are structures in which, unlike lists, each element is linked to more than one element. In some trees, an element (sometimes called a node) may be linked to a variable number of other elements. Most often, though, elements are linked to a fixed number of elements. In binary trees, as the same suggests, each element is linked to two elements. Those links are called branches. In binary trees, we talk about left and right branches. Figure 10.1 shows an example of a binary tree.

Figure 10.1. A binary tree is a recursive structure composed of a root and two branches. The left branch is a link to the left subtree, and the right branch is a link to the right subtree. Terminal elements have empty branches (not represented in the figure) and are called leaves.

Figure 10.1. A binary tree is a recursive structure composed of a root and two branches. The left branch is a link to the left subtree, and the right branch is a link to the right subtree. Terminal elements have empty branches (not represented in the figure) and are called leaves.