AVL Tree

AVL Tree is invented by GM Adelson - Velsky and EM Landis in 1962. The tree is named AVL in honour
of its inventors.

AVL Tree can be defined as height balanced binary search tree in which each node is associated with a
balance factor which is calculated by subtracting the height of its right sub-tree from that of its left
sub-tree.

Tree is said to be balanced if balance factor of each node is in between -1 to 1, otherwise, the tree will
be unbalanced and need to be balanced.

Balance Factor (k) = height (left(k)) - height (right(k))

If balance factor of any node is 1, it means that the left sub-tree is one level higher than the right sub-
tree.

If balance factor of any node is 0, it means that the left sub-tree and right sub-tree contain equal height.

If balance factor of any node is -1, it means that the left sub-tree is one level lower than the right sub-
tree.

An AVL tree is given in the following figure. We can see that, balance factor associated with each node
is in between -1 and +1. therefore, it is an example of AVL tree.
Operations on AVL tree
Due to the fact that, AVL tree is also a binary search tree therefore, all the operations are performed in
the same way as they are performed in a binary search tree. Searching and traversing do not lead to
the violation in property of AVL tree. However, insertion and deletion are the operations which can
violate this property and therefore, they need to be revisited.

Sl.
Operation Description
No.

Insertion in AVL tree is performed in the same way as it is performed in a binary search
1 Insertion tree. However, it may lead to violation in the AVL tree property and therefore the tree
may need balancing. The tree can be balanced by applying rotations.

Deletion can also be performed in the same way as it is performed in a binary search
2 Deletion tree. Deletion may also disturb the balance of the tree therefore, various types of
rotations are used to rebalance the tree.

Why AVL Tree?

AVL tree controls the height of the binary search tree by not letting it to be skewed. The time taken for
all operations in a binary search tree of height h is O(h). However, it can be extended to O(n) if the BST
becomes skewed (i.e. worst case). By limiting this height to log n, AVL tree imposes an upper bound on
each operation to be O(log n) where n is the number of nodes.

AVL Rotations
We perform rotation in AVL tree only in case if Balance Factor is other than -1, 0, and 1. There are
basically four types of rotations which are as follows:

1. L L rotation: Inserted node is in the left subtree of left subtree of A

2. R R rotation : Inserted node is in the right subtree of right subtree of A
3. L R rotation : Inserted node is in the right subtree of left subtree of A
4. R L rotation : Inserted node is in the left subtree of right subtree of A

Where node A is the node whose balance Factor is other than -1, 0, 1.

The first two rotations LL and RR are single rotations and the next two rotations LR and RL are double
rotations. For a tree to be unbalanced, minimum height must be at least 2, Let us understand each
rotation
1. RR Rotation
When BST becomes unbalanced, due to a node is inserted into the right subtree of the right subtree of
A, then we perform RR rotation, RR rotation is an anticlockwise rotation, which is applied on the edge
below a node having balance factor -2

In above example, node A has balance factor -2 because a node C is inserted in the right subtree of A
right subtree. We perform the RR rotation on the edge below A.

2. LL Rotation
When BST becomes unbalanced, due to a node is inserted into the left subtree of the left subtree of C,
then we perform LL rotation, LL rotation is clockwise rotation, which is applied on the edge below a
node having balance factor 2.

In above example, node C has balance factor 2 because a node A is inserted in the left subtree of C left
subtree. We perform the LL rotation on the edge below A.

3. LR Rotation
Double rotations are bit tougher than single rotation, LR rotation = RR rotation + LL rotation, i.e., first
RR rotation is performed on subtree and then LL rotation is performed on full tree, by full tree we mean
the first node from the path of inserted node whose balance factor is other than -1, 0, or 1.
Let us understand each and every step very clearly:

State Action

A node B has been inserted into the right subtree of A the left subtree of C, because of
which C has become an unbalanced node having balance factor 2. This case is L R
rotation where: Inserted node is in the right subtree of left subtree of C

As LR rotation = RR + LL rotation, hence RR (anticlockwise) on subtree rooted at A is

performed first. By doing RR rotation, node A, has become the left subtree of B.

After performing RR rotation, node C is still unbalanced, i.e., having balance factor 2,
as inserted node A is in the left of left of C

Now we perform LL clockwise rotation on full tree, i.e. on node C. node C has now
become the right subtree of node B, A is left subtree of B

Balance factor of each node is now either -1, 0, or 1, i.e. BST is balanced now.
4. RL Rotation
Double rotations are bit tougher than single rotation. R L rotation = LL rotation + RR rotation, i.e., first
LL rotation is performed on subtree and then RR rotation is performed on full tree, by full tree we mean
the first node from the path of inserted node whose balance factor is other than -1, 0, or 1.

State Action

A node B has been inserted into the left subtree of C the right subtree of A, because of
which A has become an unbalanced node having balance factor - 2. This case is RL
rotation where: Inserted node is in the left subtree of right subtree of A

As RL rotation = LL rotation + RR rotation, hence, LL (clockwise) on subtree rooted

at C is performed first. By doing RR rotation, node C has become the right subtree of B.

After performing LL rotation, node A is still unbalanced, i.e. having balance factor -2,
which is because of the right-subtree of the right-subtree node A.

Now we perform RR rotation (anticlockwise rotation) on full tree, i.e. on node A.

node C has now become the right subtree of node B, and node A has become the left
subtree of B.

Balance factor of each node is now either -1, 0, or 1, i.e., BST is balanced now.
Q: Construct an AVL tree having the following elements
H, I, J, B, A, E, C, F, D, G, K, L
1. Insert H, I, J

On inserting the above elements, especially in the case of H, the BST becomes unbalanced as the
Balance Factor of H is -2. Since the BST is right-skewed, we will perform RR Rotation on node H.

The resultant balance tree is:

2. Insert B, A

On inserting the above elements, especially in case of A, the BST becomes unbalanced as the Balance
Factor of H and I is 2, we consider the first node from the last inserted node i.e. H. Since the BST from
H is left-skewed, we will perform LL Rotation on node H.

The resultant balance tree is:

3. Insert E

On inserting E, BST becomes unbalanced as the Balance Factor of I is 2, since if we travel from E to I we
find that it is inserted in the left subtree of right subtree of I, we will perform LR Rotation on node I. LR
= RR + LL rotation

3 a) We first perform RR rotation on node B

The resultant tree after RR rotation is:

3b) We first perform LL rotation on the node I

The resultant balanced tree after LL rotation is:

4. Insert C, F, D

On inserting C, F, D, BST becomes unbalanced as the Balance Factor of B and H is -2, since if we travel
from D to B we find that it is inserted in the right subtree of left subtree of B, we will perform RL Rotation
on node I. RL = LL + RR rotation.

4a) We first perform LL rotation on node E

The resultant tree after LL rotation is:

4b) We then perform RR rotation on node B

The resultant balanced tree after RR rotation is:

5. Insert G

On inserting G, BST become unbalanced as the Balance Factor of H is 2, since if we travel from G to H,
we find that it is inserted in the left subtree of right subtree of H, we will perform LR Rotation on node
I. LR = RR + LL rotation.

5 a) We first perform RR rotation on node C

The resultant tree after RR rotation is:

5 b) We then perform LL rotation on node H

The resultant balanced tree after LL rotation is:

6. Insert K

On inserting K, BST becomes unbalanced as the Balance Factor of I is -2. Since the BST is right-skewed
from I to K, hence we will perform RR Rotation on the node I.

The resultant balanced tree after RR rotation is:

7. Insert L

On inserting the L tree is still balanced as the Balance Factor of each node is now either, -1, 0, +1. Hence
the tree is a Balanced AVL tree
B Tree
B Tree is a specialized m-way tree that can be widely used for disk access. A B-Tree of order m can have
at most m-1 keys and m children. One of the main reason of using B tree is its capability to store large
number of keys in a single node and large key values by keeping the height of the tree relatively small.

A B tree of order m contains all the properties of an M way tree. In addition, it contains the following
properties.

1. Every node in a B-Tree contains at most m children.

2. Every node in a B-Tree except the root node and the leaf node contain at least m/2 children.
3. The root nodes must have at least 2 nodes.
4. All leaf nodes must be at the same level.

It is not necessary that, all the nodes contain the same number of children but, each node must have
m/2 number of nodes.

A B tree of order 4 is shown in the following image.

While performing some operations on B Tree, any property of B Tree may violate such as number of
minimum children a node can have. To maintain the properties of B Tree, the tree may split or join.

Operations
Searching:
Searching in B Trees is similar to that in Binary search tree. For example, if we search for an item 49 in
the following B Tree. The process will something like following:

1. Compare item 49 with root node 78. since 49 < 78 hence, move to its left sub-tree.
2. Since, 40<49<56, traverse right sub-tree of 40.
3. 49>45, move to right. Compare 49.
4. match found, return.
Searching in a B tree depends upon the height of the tree. The search algorithm takes O(log n) time to
search any element in a B tree.

Inserting
Insertions are done at the leaf node level. The following algorithm needs to be followed in order to
insert an item into B Tree.

1. Traverse the B Tree in order to find the appropriate leaf node at which the node can be inserted.
2. If the leaf node contains less than m-1 keys, then insert the element in the increasing order.
3. Else, if the leaf node contains m-1 keys, then follow the following steps.
o Insert the new element in the increasing order of elements.
o Split the node into the two nodes at the median.
o Push the median element up to its parent node.
o If the parent node also contains m-1 number of keys, then split it too by following the same steps.

Example:

Insert the node 8 into the B Tree of order 5 shown in the following image
The node, now contain 5 keys which is greater than (5 -1 = 4) keys. Therefore, split the node from the
median i.e. 8 and push it up to its parent node shown as follows.

Deletion
Deletion is also performed at the leaf nodes. The node which is to be deleted can either be a leaf node
or an internal node. Following algorithm needs to be followed in order to delete a node from a B tree.

1. Locate the leaf node.

2. If there are more than m/2 keys in the leaf node, then delete the desired key from the node.
3. If the leaf node doesn't contain m/2 keys, then complete the keys by taking the element from eight or
left sibling.
o If the left sibling contains more than m/2 elements, then push its largest element up to its parent
and move the intervening element down to the node where the key is deleted.
o If the right sibling contains more than m/2 elements, then push its smallest element up to the
parent and move intervening element down to the node where the key is deleted.
 4. If neither of the sibling contain more than m/2 elements, then create a new leaf node by joining two leaf
nodes and the intervening element of the parent node.
5. If parent is left with less than m/2 nodes then, apply the above process on the parent too.

If the node which is to be deleted is an internal node, then replace the node with its in-order successor
or predecessor. Since, successor or predecessor will always be on the leaf node hence, the process will
be similar as the node is being deleted from the leaf node.

Example 1

Delete the node 53 from the B Tree of order 5 shown in the following figure.

53 is present in the right child of element 49. Delete it.

Now, 57 is the only element which is left in the node, the minimum number of elements that must be
present in a B tree of order 5, is 2. it is less than that, the elements in its left and right sub-tree are also
not sufficient therefore, merge it with the left sibling and intervening element of parent i.e. 49.
The final B tree is shown as follows.

Application of B tree
B tree is used to index the data and provides fast access to the actual data stored on the disks since,
the access to value stored in a large database that is stored on a disk is a very time consuming process.

Searching an un-indexed and unsorted database containing n key values needs O(n) running time in
worst case. However, if we use B Tree to index this database, it will be searched in O(log n) time in worst
case.
B+ Tree
B+ Tree is an extension of B Tree which allows efficient insertion, deletion and search operations.

In B Tree, Keys and records both can be stored in the internal as well as leaf nodes. Whereas, in B+ tree,
records (data) can only be stored on the leaf nodes while internal nodes can only store the key values.

The leaf nodes of a B+ tree are linked together in the form of a singly linked lists to make the search
queries more efficient.

B+ Tree are used to store the large amount of data which cannot be stored in the main memory. Due
to the fact that, size of main memory is always limited, the internal nodes (keys to access records) of
the B+ tree are stored in the main memory whereas, leaf nodes are stored in the secondary memory.

The internal nodes of B+ tree are often called index nodes. A B+ tree of order 3 is shown in the following
figure.

Advantages of B+ Tree
1. Records can be fetched in equal number of disk accesses.
2. Height of the tree remains balanced and less as compare to B tree.
3. We can access the data stored in a B+ tree sequentially as well as directly.
4. Keys are used for indexing.
5. Faster search queries as the data is stored only on the leaf nodes.
B Tree VS B+ Tree

Sl. No. B Tree B+ Tree

1 Search keys can not be repeatedly stored. Redundant search keys can be present.

Data can be stored in leaf nodes as well as Data can only be stored on the leaf nodes.
2
internal nodes

Searching for some data is a slower process Searching is comparatively faster as data can only
3 since data can be found on internal nodes be found on the leaf nodes.
as well as on the leaf nodes.

Deletion of internal nodes are so Deletion will never be a complexed process since
4 complicated and time consuming. element will always be deleted from the leaf
nodes.

Leaf nodes cannot be linked together. Leaf nodes are linked together to make the search
5
operations more efficient.

Insertion in B+ Tree
Step 1: Insert the new node as a leaf node

Step 2: If the leaf doesn't have required space, split the node and copy the middle node to the next
index node.

Step 3: If the index node doesn't have required space, split the node and copy the middle element to
the next index page.

Example:
Insert the value 195 into the B+ tree of order 5 shown in the following figure.
195 will be inserted in the right sub-tree of 120 after 190. Insert it at the desired position.

The node contains greater than the maximum number of elements i.e. 4, therefore split it and place the median
node up to the parent.

Now, the index node contains 6 children and 5 keys which violates the B+ tree properties, therefore we need to
split it, shown as follows.

Deletion in B+ Tree
Step 1: Delete the key and data from the leaves.

Step 2: if the leaf node contains less than minimum number of elements, merge down the node with
its sibling and delete the key in between them.

Step 3: if the index node contains less than minimum number of elements, merge the node with the
sibling and move down the key in between them.
Example:
Delete the key 200 from the B+ Tree shown in the following figure.

200 is present in the right sub-tree of 190, after 195. delete it.

Merge the two nodes by using 195, 190, 154 and 129.
Now, element 120 is the single element present in the node which is violating the B+ Tree properties.
Therefore, we need to merge it by using 60, 78, 108 and 120.

Now, the height of B+ tree will be decreased by 1.