#1104

Path In Zigzag Labelled Binary Tree

Medium
MathTreeBinary TreeBit ManipulationTree Traversal
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Approaches

Brute ForceOptimal
Complexity Comparison
Brute ForceOptimal Solution
Time
O(n²)
O(log n)
Space
O(1)
O(log n)
💡

Intuition

Time O(log n)Space O(log n)

This approach leverages the properties of binary trees and the zigzag pattern to calculate the path directly without simulating each step, making it efficient.

⚙️

Algorithm

5 steps
  1. 1Step 1: Initialize an empty list for the path and a variable to keep track of the current label.
  2. 2Step 2: Determine the depth of the given label by counting how many times we can divide it by 2 until we reach 1.
  3. 3Step 3: For each level from the depth to 0, calculate the label of the parent node based on the zigzag pattern.
  4. 4Step 4: Append the root and the calculated labels to the path list.
  5. 5Step 5: Reverse the path list before returning it.
solution.py11 lines
1def pathInZigZagTree(label):
2    path = []
3    depth = label.bit_length() - 1
4    while label > 0:
5        path.append(label)
6        depth -= 1
7        label //= 2
8        if depth % 2 == 1:
9            label = (1 << depth) - 1 - label
10    path.reverse()
11    return path

Complexity note: The time complexity is O(log n) because we only traverse the height of the tree, which is logarithmic in relation to the label value.

  • 1The zigzag pattern alternates the direction of node labeling, which can be leveraged to find parent nodes efficiently.
  • 2Understanding the binary representation of numbers helps in determining the depth and relationships in the tree.

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