Binary Search Tree (BST): The Basics of Data Search and Balancing Aesthetics

Learn BST via Up & Down game. Why DBs use B-Trees over Hash Tables. Deep dive into AVL, Red-Black Trees, Splay Trees, and Treaps.

May 18, 2025

Codemapo

Memory Management: Contiguous vs Non-Contiguous Allocation

Why does my server crash? OS's desperate struggle to manage limited memory. War against Fragmentation.

Two ways to escape a maze. Spread out wide (BFS) or dig deep (DFS)? Who finds the shortest path?

Fast by name. Partitioning around a Pivot. Why is it the standard library choice despite O(N²) worst case?

Establishing TCP connection is expensive. Reuse it for multiple requests.

Logic: Divide and Conquer. Halve the playground every step.
Performance: O(log N) is incredibly fast. $2^ \approx 1 \text$. 1 Billion items search in 30 steps.
Risk: Sorted input kills performance ($O(N)$).
Fix: Use Red-Black Trees in production to guarantee balance.
Reality: Databases use B-Trees (a BST variant) to minimize Disk I/O.