In computer science, a 2–3 tree is a tree data structure, where every node with children (internal node) has either two children (2-node) and one data element or three children (3-node) and two data elements. A 2–3 tree is a B-tree of order 3. Nodes on the outside of the tree (leaf nodes) have no children and one or two data elements. 2–3 trees were invented by John Hopcroft in 1970.
2–3 trees are required to be balanced, meaning that each leaf is at the same level. It follows that each right, center, and left subtree of a node contains the same or close to the same amount of data.
Definitions
We say that an internal node is a 2-node if it has one data element and two children.
We say that an internal node is a 3-node if it has two data elements and three children.
A 4-node, with three data elements, may be temporarily created during manipulation of the tree but is never persistently stored in the tree.
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Image:2-3-4 tree 2-node.svg|2 node
Image:2-3-4-tree 3-node.svg|3 node
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We say that is a 2–3 tree if and only if one of the following statements hold:
To insert into a 2-node, the new key is added to the 2-node in the appropriate order.
To insert into a 3-node, more work may be required depending on the location of the 3-node. If the tree consists only of a 3-node, the node is split into three 2-nodes with the appropriate keys and children.
framed|none|Insertion of a number in a 2–3 tree for 3 possible cases
If the target node is a 3-node whose parent is a 2-node, the key is inserted into the 3-node to create a temporary 4-node. In the illustration, the key 10 is inserted into the 2-node with 6 and 9. The middle key is 9, and is promoted to the parent 2-node. This leaves a 3-node of 6 and 10, which is split to be two 2-nodes held as children of the parent 3-node.
If the target node is a 3-node and the parent is a 3-node, a temporary 4-node is created then split as above. This process continues up the tree to the root. If the root must be split, then the process of a single 3-node is followed: a temporary 4-node root is split into three 2-nodes, one of which is considered to be the root. This operation grows the height of the tree by one.
Deletion
Deleting a key from a non-leaf node can be done by replacing it by its immediate predecessor or successor, and then deleting the predecessor or successor from a leaf node. Deleting a key from a leaf node is easy if the leaf is a 3-node. Otherwise, it may require creating a temporary 1-node which may be absorbed by reorganizing the tree, or it may repeatedly travel upwards before it can be absorbed, as a temporary 4-node may in the case of insertion. Alternatively, it's possible to use an algorithm which is both top-down and bottom-up, creating temporary 4-nodes on the way down that are then destroyed as you travel back up. Deletion methods are explained in more detail in the references.
Parallel operations
Since 2–3 trees are similar in structure to red–black trees, parallel algorithms for red–black trees can be applied to 2–3 trees as well.
See also
- 2–3–4 tree
- 2–3 heap
- AA tree
- B-tree
- Finger tree