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DSA Cprogramming~20 mins

Vertical Order Traversal of Binary Tree in DSA C - Practice Problems & Challenges

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Challenge - 5 Problems
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Vertical Order Traversal Master
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❓ Predict Output
intermediate
2:00remaining
Output of vertical order traversal for a simple binary tree
What is the output of the vertical order traversal for the given binary tree?
DSA C
struct Node {
    int data;
    struct Node* left;
    struct Node* right;
};

// Tree structure:
//       1
//      / \
//     2   3
//    /     \
//   4       5

// Vertical order traversal output format:
// Each vertical line printed as a list of node values from top to bottom.

// Assume vertical order traversal function returns an array of arrays representing vertical lines.

// For this tree, what is the vertical order traversal output?

// Expected output format (JSON): [[4], [2], [1], [3], [5]]
A[[1], [2, 4], [3, 5]]
B[[4], [2], [1], [3], [5]]
C[[4, 2], [1], [3, 5]]
D[[4], [1, 2], [3], [5]]
Attempts:
2 left
💡 Hint
Think about the horizontal distance of each node from the root.
❓ Predict Output
intermediate
2:00remaining
Vertical order traversal output with nodes sharing vertical lines
What is the vertical order traversal output for the following binary tree?
DSA C
// Tree structure:
//        10
//       /  \
//      7    4
//     / \    \
//    3   11   14

// Expected output format (JSON): array of arrays representing vertical lines.
A[[3], [7], [10], [4], [11, 14]]
B[[3], [7, 11], [10], [4, 14]]
C[[3], [7], [10, 11], [4], [14]]
D[[3, 7], [10, 11], [4, 14]]
Attempts:
2 left
💡 Hint
Nodes with the same horizontal distance are grouped together in order from top to bottom.
🔧 Debug
advanced
2:00remaining
Identify the error in vertical order traversal code snippet
What error will the following C code produce when performing vertical order traversal?
DSA C
void verticalOrder(struct Node* root) {
    if (!root) return;
    std::map<int, std::vector<int>> m;
    std::queue<std::pair<struct Node*, int>> q;
    q.push({root, 0});
    while (!q.empty()) {
        auto p = q.front();
        q.pop();
        struct Node* node = p.first;
        int hd = p.second;
        m[hd].push_back(node->data);
        if (node->left) q.push({node->left, hd - 1});
        if (node->right) q.push({node->right, hd + 1});
    }
    for (auto it : m) {
        for (int val : it.second) {
            printf("%d ", val);
        }
        printf("\n");
    }
}

// Note: This code is in C but uses C++ STL containers.
ACompilation error due to use of C++ STL in C code
BRuntime error due to null pointer dereference
CLogical error: nodes not grouped by vertical order
DNo error, prints vertical order traversal correctly
Attempts:
2 left
💡 Hint
Check language compatibility of used data structures.
🧠 Conceptual
advanced
2:00remaining
Understanding vertical order traversal with node levels
In vertical order traversal, when two nodes share the same vertical line and level, how should they be ordered?
AOrder nodes by their insertion order in the traversal queue
BOrder nodes by their horizontal distance only
COrder nodes by their value in ascending order
DOrder nodes by their depth from root, top to bottom
Attempts:
2 left
💡 Hint
Think about how nodes are visited in a breadth-first traversal.
🚀 Application
expert
2:00remaining
Number of vertical lines in a complex binary tree
Given the binary tree below, how many vertical lines will the vertical order traversal produce? // Tree structure: // 15 // / \ // 10 20 // / \ \ // 8 12 25 // / / // 6 22 Provide the number of vertical lines as an integer.
A5
B8
C7
D6
Attempts:
2 left
💡 Hint
Count horizontal distances from root to leftmost and rightmost nodes.

Practice

(1/5)
1. What does the vertical order traversal of a binary tree represent?
easy
A. Nodes grouped by their vertical columns from left to right
B. Nodes grouped by their depth levels from top to bottom
C. Nodes visited in preorder traversal order
D. Nodes visited in postorder traversal order

Solution

  1. Step 1: Understand vertical order traversal concept

    Vertical order traversal groups nodes by their vertical columns, where the root is at column 0, left child at column -1, right child at column +1, and so on.
  2. Step 2: Compare with other traversal types

    Depth levels group nodes horizontally, preorder and postorder are depth-first traversals, not vertical grouping.
  3. Final Answer:

    Nodes grouped by their vertical columns from left to right -> Option A
  4. Quick Check:

    Vertical order = vertical columns grouping [OK]
Hint: Vertical order groups nodes by columns, not levels or order [OK]
Common Mistakes:
  • Confusing vertical order with level order traversal
  • Thinking preorder or postorder is vertical order
  • Mixing horizontal levels with vertical columns
2. Which data structure is commonly used to store nodes during vertical order traversal?
easy
A. Queue
B. HashMap or Dictionary
C. Stack
D. Linked List

Solution

  1. Step 1: Identify storage needs for vertical order traversal

    We need to group nodes by their vertical column index, so a map (like HashMap or Dictionary) is used to store lists of nodes per column.
  2. Step 2: Understand role of other data structures

    Queue is used for level order traversal but not for grouping columns; stack and linked list do not directly map columns to nodes.
  3. Final Answer:

    HashMap or Dictionary -> Option B
  4. Quick Check:

    Use map to group nodes by column [OK]
Hint: Use a map to group nodes by column index [OK]
Common Mistakes:
  • Using stack instead of map for grouping
  • Confusing queue usage for traversal with storage
  • Not grouping nodes by column properly
3. What is the output of vertical order traversal for this tree?
    1
   / \
  2   3
 / \   \
4   5   6
medium
A. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
B. [4, 2, 1, 3, 5, 6]
C. [4, 2, 5, 1, 3, 6]
D. [4, 2, 1, 5, 3, 6]

Solution

  1. Step 1: Assign vertical columns to each node

    Root 1 is at column 0; 2 is at -1; 3 is at +1; 4 is at -2; 5 is at 0; 6 is at +2.
  2. Step 2: Group nodes by columns and read left to right

    Column -2: [4], -1: [2], 0: [1,5], 1: [3], 2: [6]. Reading in order: 4, 2, 1, 5, 3, 6.
  3. Final Answer:

    [4, 2, 1, 5, 3, 6] -> Option D
  4. Quick Check:

    Group by columns left to right [OK]
Hint: Assign columns: left -1, right +1; group and read left to right [OK]
Common Mistakes:
  • Mixing order of nodes in same column
  • Ignoring multiple nodes in one column
  • Reading nodes top-down instead of column-wise
4. Identify the error in this vertical order traversal code snippet:
void verticalOrder(Node* root) {
  map nodes;
  queue> q;
  q.push({root, 0});
  while (!q.empty()) {
    auto p = q.front(); q.pop();
    nodes[p.second].push_back(p.first->data);
    if (p.first->left) q.push({p.first->left, p.second - 1});
    if (p.first->right) q.push({p.first->right, p.second + 1});
  }
  for (auto it : nodes) {
    for (int val : it.second) {
      cout << val << " ";
    }
  }
}
medium
A. Not sorting nodes inside each column before printing
B. Using map instead of unordered_map causes slower performance
C. Missing check if root is NULL before pushing to queue
D. Incorrect decrement and increment of column index for children

Solution

  1. Step 1: Check initial queue push

    The code pushes root to queue without checking if root is NULL, which can cause runtime error if tree is empty.
  2. Step 2: Verify other parts

    Column indices are correctly updated; map usage is valid; sorting nodes inside columns is optional depending on problem.
  3. Final Answer:

    Missing check if root is NULL before pushing to queue -> Option C
  4. Quick Check:

    Always check root != NULL before queue push [OK]
Hint: Check root != NULL before queue push to avoid errors [OK]
Common Mistakes:
  • Ignoring NULL root causing crash
  • Thinking map usage is incorrect
  • Assuming sorting inside columns is mandatory
5. Given a binary tree, how would you modify vertical order traversal to print nodes sorted by their row (depth) within each vertical column?
hard
A. Store nodes in map>> with (row, value) and sort by row before printing
B. Use a stack instead of queue to traverse nodes depth-first
C. Ignore row and print nodes in order they appear in queue
D. Use unordered_map and sort keys before printing

Solution

  1. Step 1: Understand requirement to sort by row within columns

    We need to track both column and row (depth) for each node to sort nodes vertically and then by depth.
  2. Step 2: Use map with pairs and sort

    Store nodes in map keyed by column with vector of (row, value) pairs. Sort vector by row before printing to get correct order.
  3. Final Answer:

    Store nodes in map<int, vector<pair<int,int>>> with (row, value) and sort by row before printing -> Option A
  4. Quick Check:

    Track row and column, sort by row inside columns [OK]
Hint: Track row with column, sort nodes by row inside each column [OK]
Common Mistakes:
  • Not tracking row, so nodes unordered by depth
  • Using stack breaks level order needed for row tracking
  • Ignoring sorting inside columns
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