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144. Binary Tree Preorder Traversal
Description
Given the root of a binary tree, return the preorder traversal of its nodes' values.
Example 1:

Input: root = [1,null,2,3] Output: [1,2,3]
Example 2:
Input: root = [] Output: []
Example 3:
Input: root = [1] Output: [1]
Constraints:
- The number of nodes in the tree is in the range
[0, 100]. -100 <= Node.val <= 100
Follow up: Recursive solution is trivial, could you do it iteratively?
Solutions
Solution 1
1. Recusive Traversal
2. Non-recursive using Stack
3. Morris Traversal
Solution 2: Stack Implementation for Non-Recursive Traversal
The idea of using a stack to implement non-recursive traversal is as follows:
- Define a stack $stk$, and first push the root node into the stack.
- If the stack is not empty, pop a node from the stack each time.
- Process the node.
- First push the right child of the node into the stack, then push the left child of the node into the stack (if there are child nodes).
- Repeat steps 2-4.
- Return the result.
The time complexity is $O(n)$, and the space complexity is $O(n)$. Here, $n$ is the number of nodes in the binary tree. The space complexity mainly depends on the stack space.
Solution 3: Morris Preorder Traversal
Morris traversal does not require a stack, and its space complexity is $O(1)$. The core idea is:
Traverse the binary tree nodes,
- If the left subtree of the current node
rootis empty, add the current node value to the result list $ans$, and update the current node toroot.right. - If the left subtree of the current node
rootis not empty, find the rightmost nodepreof the left subtree (which is the predecessor of therootnode in inorder traversal):- If the right subtree of the predecessor node
preis empty, add the current node value to the result list $ans$, then point the right subtree of the predecessor node to the current noderoot, and update the current node toroot.left. - If the right subtree of the predecessor node
preis not empty, point the right subtree of the predecessor node to null (i.e., disconnectpreandroot), and update the current node toroot.right.
- If the right subtree of the predecessor node
- Repeat the above steps until the binary tree node is null, and the traversal ends.
The time complexity is $O(n)$, where $n$ is the number of nodes in the binary tree. The space complexity is $O(1)$.
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/** * Definition for a binary tree node. * public class TreeNode { * int val; * TreeNode left; * TreeNode right; * TreeNode() {} * TreeNode(int val) { this.val = val; } * TreeNode(int val, TreeNode left, TreeNode right) { * this.val = val; * this.left = left; * this.right = right; * } * } */ class Solution { public List<Integer> preorderTraversal(TreeNode root) { List<Integer> ans = new ArrayList<>(); while (root != null) { if (root.left == null) { ans.add(root.val); root = root.right; } else { TreeNode prev = root.left; while (prev.right != null && prev.right != root) { prev = prev.right; } if (prev.right == null) { ans.add(root.val); prev.right = root; root = root.left; } else { prev.right = null; root = root.right; } } } return ans; } } // Solution 2 /** * Definition for a binary tree node. * public class TreeNode { * int val; * TreeNode left; * TreeNode right; * TreeNode() {} * TreeNode(int val) { this.val = val; } * TreeNode(int val, TreeNode left, TreeNode right) { * this.val = val; * this.left = left; * this.right = right; * } * } */ class Solution { public List<Integer> preorderTraversal(TreeNode root) { List<Integer> ans = new ArrayList<>(); if (root == null) { return ans; } Deque<TreeNode> stk = new ArrayDeque<>(); stk.push(root); while (!stk.isEmpty()) { TreeNode node = stk.pop(); ans.add(node.val); if (node.right != null) { stk.push(node.right); } if (node.left != null) { stk.push(node.left); } } return ans; } } // Solution 3 /** * Definition for a binary tree node. * public class TreeNode { * int val; * TreeNode left; * TreeNode right; * TreeNode() {} * TreeNode(int val) { this.val = val; } * TreeNode(int val, TreeNode left, TreeNode right) { * this.val = val; * this.left = left; * this.right = right; * } * } */ class Solution { public List<Integer> preorderTraversal(TreeNode root) { List<Integer> ans = new ArrayList<>(); while (root != null) { if (root.left == null) { ans.add(root.val); root = root.right; } else { TreeNode prev = root.left; while (prev.right != null && prev.right != root) { prev = prev.right; } if (prev.right == null) { ans.add(root.val); prev.right = root; root = root.left; } else { prev.right = null; root = root.right; } } } return ans; } } -
/** * Definition for a binary tree node. * struct TreeNode { * int val; * TreeNode *left; * TreeNode *right; * TreeNode() : val(0), left(nullptr), right(nullptr) {} * TreeNode(int x) : val(x), left(nullptr), right(nullptr) {} * TreeNode(int x, TreeNode *left, TreeNode *right) : val(x), left(left), right(right) {} * }; */ class Solution { public: vector<int> preorderTraversal(TreeNode* root) { vector<int> ans; while (root) { if (!root->left) { ans.push_back(root->val); root = root->right; } else { TreeNode* prev = root->left; while (prev->right && prev->right != root) { prev = prev->right; } if (!prev->right) { ans.push_back(root->val); prev->right = root; root = root->left; } else { prev->right = nullptr; root = root->right; } } } return ans; } }; // Solution 2 /** * Definition for a binary tree node. * struct TreeNode { * int val; * TreeNode *left; * TreeNode *right; * TreeNode() : val(0), left(nullptr), right(nullptr) {} * TreeNode(int x) : val(x), left(nullptr), right(nullptr) {} * TreeNode(int x, TreeNode *left, TreeNode *right) : val(x), left(left), right(right) {} * }; */ class Solution { public: vector<int> preorderTraversal(TreeNode* root) { vector<int> ans; if (!root) { return ans; } stack<TreeNode*> stk; stk.push(root); while (stk.size()) { auto node = stk.top(); stk.pop(); ans.push_back(node->val); if (node->right) { stk.push(node->right); } if (node->left) { stk.push(node->left); } } return ans; } }; // Solution 3 /** * Definition for a binary tree node. * struct TreeNode { * int val; * TreeNode *left; * TreeNode *right; * TreeNode() : val(0), left(nullptr), right(nullptr) {} * TreeNode(int x) : val(x), left(nullptr), right(nullptr) {} * TreeNode(int x, TreeNode *left, TreeNode *right) : val(x), left(left), right(right) {} * }; */ class Solution { public: vector<int> preorderTraversal(TreeNode* root) { vector<int> ans; while (root) { if (!root->left) { ans.push_back(root->val); root = root->right; } else { TreeNode* prev = root->left; while (prev->right && prev->right != root) { prev = prev->right; } if (!prev->right) { ans.push_back(root->val); prev->right = root; root = root->left; } else { prev->right = nullptr; root = root->right; } } } return ans; } }; -
# Definition for a binary tree node. # class TreeNode: # def __init__(self, val=0, left=None, right=None): # self.val = val # self.left = left # self.right = right class Solution: def preorderTraversal(self, root: Optional[TreeNode]) -> List[int]: ans = [] while root: if root.left is None: ans.append(root.val) root = root.right else: prev = root.left while prev.right and prev.right != root: prev = prev.right if prev.right is None: ans.append(root.val) prev.right = root root = root.left else: prev.right = None root = root.right return ans # Solution 2 # Definition for a binary tree node. # class TreeNode: # def __init__(self, val=0, left=None, right=None): # self.val = val # self.left = left # self.right = right class Solution: def preorderTraversal(self, root: Optional[TreeNode]) -> List[int]: ans = [] if root is None: return ans stk = [root] while stk: node = stk.pop() ans.append(node.val) if node.right: stk.append(node.right) if node.left: stk.append(node.left) return ans # Solution 3 # Definition for a binary tree node. # class TreeNode: # def __init__(self, val=0, left=None, right=None): # self.val = val # self.left = left # self.right = right class Solution: def preorderTraversal(self, root: Optional[TreeNode]) -> List[int]: ans = [] while root: if root.left is None: ans.append(root.val) root = root.right else: prev = root.left while prev.right and prev.right != root: prev = prev.right if prev.right is None: ans.append(root.val) prev.right = root root = root.left else: prev.right = None root = root.right return ans -
/** * Definition for a binary tree node. * type TreeNode struct { * Val int * Left *TreeNode * Right *TreeNode * } */ func preorderTraversal(root *TreeNode) []int { var ans []int for root != nil { if root.Left == nil { ans = append(ans, root.Val) root = root.Right } else { prev := root.Left for prev.Right != nil && prev.Right != root { prev = prev.Right } if prev.Right == nil { ans = append(ans, root.Val) prev.Right = root root = root.Left } else { prev.Right = nil root = root.Right } } } return ans } // Solution 2 /** * Definition for a binary tree node. * type TreeNode struct { * Val int * Left *TreeNode * Right *TreeNode * } */ func preorderTraversal(root *TreeNode) (ans []int) { if root == nil { return } stk := []*TreeNode{root} for len(stk) > 0 { node := stk[len(stk)-1] stk = stk[:len(stk)-1] ans = append(ans, node.Val) if node.Right != nil { stk = append(stk, node.Right) } if node.Left != nil { stk = append(stk, node.Left) } } return } // Solution 3 /** * Definition for a binary tree node. * type TreeNode struct { * Val int * Left *TreeNode * Right *TreeNode * } */ func preorderTraversal(root *TreeNode) (ans []int) { for root != nil { if root.Left == nil { ans = append(ans, root.Val) root = root.Right } else { prev := root.Left for prev.Right != nil && prev.Right != root { prev = prev.Right } if prev.Right == nil { ans = append(ans, root.Val) prev.Right = root root = root.Left } else { prev.Right = nil root = root.Right } } } return } -
/** * Definition for a binary tree node. * class TreeNode { * val: number * left: TreeNode | null * right: TreeNode | null * constructor(val?: number, left?: TreeNode | null, right?: TreeNode | null) { * this.val = (val===undefined ? 0 : val) * this.left = (left===undefined ? null : left) * this.right = (right===undefined ? null : right) * } * } */ function preorderTraversal(root: TreeNode | null): number[] { let ans = []; while (root) { if (!root.left) { ans.push(root.val); root = root.right; } else { let prev = root.left; while (prev.right && prev.right != root) { prev = prev.right; } if (!prev.right) { ans.push(root.val); prev.right = root; root = root.left; } else { prev.right = null; root = root.right; } } } return ans; } // Solution 2 /** * Definition for a binary tree node. * class TreeNode { * val: number * left: TreeNode | null * right: TreeNode | null * constructor(val?: number, left?: TreeNode | null, right?: TreeNode | null) { * this.val = (val===undefined ? 0 : val) * this.left = (left===undefined ? null : left) * this.right = (right===undefined ? null : right) * } * } */ function preorderTraversal(root: TreeNode | null): number[] { const ans: number[] = []; if (!root) { return ans; } const stk: TreeNode[] = [root]; while (stk.length) { const { left, right, val } = stk.pop(); ans.push(val); right && stk.push(right); left && stk.push(left); } return ans; } // Solution 3 /** * Definition for a binary tree node. * class TreeNode { * val: number * left: TreeNode | null * right: TreeNode | null * constructor(val?: number, left?: TreeNode | null, right?: TreeNode | null) { * this.val = (val===undefined ? 0 : val) * this.left = (left===undefined ? null : left) * this.right = (right===undefined ? null : right) * } * } */ function preorderTraversal(root: TreeNode | null): number[] { const ans: number[] = []; while (root) { const { left, right, val } = root; if (!left) { ans.push(val); root = right; } else { let prev = left; while (prev.right && prev.right != root) { prev = prev.right; } if (!prev.right) { ans.push(val); prev.right = root; root = root.left; } else { prev.right = null; root = root.right; } } } return ans; } -
// Definition for a binary tree node. // #[derive(Debug, PartialEq, Eq)] // pub struct TreeNode { // pub val: i32, // pub left: Option<Rc<RefCell<TreeNode>>>, // pub right: Option<Rc<RefCell<TreeNode>>>, // } // // impl TreeNode { // #[inline] // pub fn new(val: i32) -> Self { // TreeNode { // val, // left: None, // right: None // } // } // } use std::rc::Rc; use std::cell::RefCell; impl Solution { fn dfs(root: &Option<Rc<RefCell<TreeNode>>>, res: &mut Vec<i32>) { if root.is_none() { return; } let node = root.as_ref().unwrap().borrow(); res.push(node.val); Self::dfs(&node.left, res); Self::dfs(&node.right, res); } pub fn preorder_traversal(root: Option<Rc<RefCell<TreeNode>>>) -> Vec<i32> { let mut res = vec![]; Self::dfs(&root, &mut res); res } }