Definition
Preorder traversal visits nodes in Root -> Left subtree -> Right subtree order.
Key Characteristics
- ✓Visit root first
- ✓Recursively traverse left then right subtree
- ✓A form of DFS (Depth-First Search)
Use Cases
Used in these scenarios:
📋
Tree Copy
Useful for copying tree structure as root is visited first
🧮
Expression Tree Prefix
Generate prefix notation with operator first
📁
File System Traversal
Explore directory structure top-down
Complexity
Time Complexity
Best
O(N)
Average
O(N)
Worst
O(N)
Space Complexity
O(H)
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