Build a Binary Tree

Create a fixed seven-node binary tree and render its shape.

Algorithm

The canonical tree is 4(2(1,3),6(5,7)), so this Lua DSA implementation can be compared directly with the rest of the DSA track.

Basic Implementation

basic.lua

local function Node(value, left, right)
  return { value = value, left = left, right = right }
end
local function render(node)
  if node == nil then return "_" end
  if node.left == nil and node.right == nil then return tostring(node.value) end
  return tostring(node.value) .. "(" .. render(node.left) .. "," .. render(node.right) .. ")"
end
local function sample_tree()
  return Node(4, Node(2, Node(1), Node(3)), Node(6, Node(5), Node(7)))
end
local function list_string(values)
  return "[" .. table.concat(values, ", ") .. "]"
end
print(render(sample_tree()))

Complexity

Time: O(n)
Space: O(n)

Implementation notes

Render tree structure explicitly instead of printing node objects.
The replay highlights the node, traversal state, queue, path, or search cursor that changes at each step.

node links A node stores one value plus references to its left and right children.