/******************************************************************************* * Setup ******************************************************************************/ interface BinaryTreeNode { value: number; left: BinaryTreeNode; right: BinaryTreeNode; } class BinaryTreeNode { constructor(value: number) { this.value = value; this.left = null; this.right = null; } insertLeft(value: number): BinaryTreeNode { this.left = new BinaryTreeNode(value); return this.left; } insertRight(value: number): BinaryTreeNode { this.right = new BinaryTreeNode(value); return this.right; } } /******************************************************************************* * First solution ******************************************************************************/ /** * I first solved this problem using O(n) space and O(n*log(n)) * time. InterviewCake informs me that we can improve both the time and the * space performance. */ function findSecondLargest_first(node: BinaryTreeNode): number { const stack: Array = []; const xs: Array = []; stack.push(node); while (stack.length > 0) { const node = stack.pop() xs.push(node.value); if (node.left) { stack.push(node.left); } if (node.right) { stack.push(node.right); } } xs.sort(); if (xs.length < 2) { throw new Error('Cannot find the second largest element in a BST with fewer than two elements.'); } else { return xs[xs.length - 2]; } } /******************************************************************************* * Second solution ******************************************************************************/ /** * My second solution accumulates a list of the values in the tree using an * in-order traversal. This reduces the runtime costs from O(n*log(n)) from the * previous solution to O(n). The memory cost is still O(n), which InterviewCake * informs me can be reduced to O(1). */ function findSecondLargest_second(node: BinaryTreeNode): number { const xs: Array = accumulateInorder(node); if (xs.length < 2) { throw new Error('Cannot find the second largest element in a BST with fewer than two elements.'); } else { return xs[xs.length - 2]; } } /** * Returns an array containing the values of the tree, `node`, sorted in-order * (i.e. from smallest-to-largest). */ function accumulateInorder(node: BinaryTreeNode): Array { let result = []; if (node.left) { result = result.concat(accumulateInorder(node.left)); } result.push(node.value) if (node.right) { result = result.concat(accumulateInorder(node.right)); } return result; } /******************************************************************************* * Third solution ******************************************************************************/ /** * Returns the largest number in a BST. */ function findLargest(node: BinaryTreeNode): number { let curr: BinaryTreeNode = node; while (curr.right) { curr = curr.right; } return curr.value; } /** * Returns the second largest number in a BST */ function findSecondLargest(node: BinaryTreeNode): number { let curr = node; let parent = null; while (curr.right) { parent = curr; curr = curr.right } if (curr.left) { return findLargest(curr.left); } else { return parent.value; } } // Tests let desc = 'full tree'; let treeRoot = new BinaryTreeNode(50); let leftNode = treeRoot.insertLeft(30); leftNode.insertLeft(10); leftNode.insertRight(40); let rightNode = treeRoot.insertRight(70); rightNode.insertLeft(60); rightNode.insertRight(80); assertEquals(findSecondLargest(treeRoot), 70, desc); desc = 'largest has a left child'; treeRoot = new BinaryTreeNode(50); leftNode = treeRoot.insertLeft(30); leftNode.insertLeft(10); leftNode.insertRight(40); rightNode = treeRoot.insertRight(70); rightNode.insertLeft(60); assertEquals(findSecondLargest(treeRoot), 60, desc); desc = 'largest has a left subtree'; treeRoot = new BinaryTreeNode(50); leftNode = treeRoot.insertLeft(30); leftNode.insertLeft(10); leftNode.insertRight(40); rightNode = treeRoot.insertRight(70); leftNode = rightNode.insertLeft(60); leftNode.insertRight(65); leftNode = leftNode.insertLeft(55); leftNode.insertRight(58); assertEquals(findSecondLargest(treeRoot), 65, desc); desc = 'second largest is root node'; treeRoot = new BinaryTreeNode(50); leftNode = treeRoot.insertLeft(30); leftNode.insertLeft(10); leftNode.insertRight(40); rightNode = treeRoot.insertRight(70); assertEquals(findSecondLargest(treeRoot), 50, desc); desc = 'descending linked list'; treeRoot = new BinaryTreeNode(50); leftNode = treeRoot.insertLeft(40); leftNode = leftNode.insertLeft(30); leftNode = leftNode.insertLeft(20); leftNode = leftNode.insertLeft(10); assertEquals(findSecondLargest(treeRoot), 40, desc); desc = 'ascending linked list'; treeRoot = new BinaryTreeNode(50); rightNode = treeRoot.insertRight(60); rightNode = rightNode.insertRight(70); rightNode = rightNode.insertRight(80); assertEquals(findSecondLargest(treeRoot), 70, desc); desc = 'one node tree'; treeRoot = new BinaryTreeNode(50); assertThrowsError(() => findSecondLargest(treeRoot), desc); desc = 'when tree is empty'; treeRoot = null; assertThrowsError(() => findSecondLargest(treeRoot), desc); function assertEquals(a, b, desc) { if (a === b) { console.log(`${desc} ... PASS`); } else { console.log(`${desc} ... FAIL: ${a} != ${b}`) } } function assertThrowsError(func, desc) { try { func(); console.log(`${desc} ... FAIL`); } catch (e) { console.log(`${desc} ... PASS`); } }