What is a Red-Black Tree in Data Structure? | Data Structure Tutorial
What is a Red-Black Tree in Data Structure? | Data Structure Tutorial
In this article, we will talk about the Red-Black Tree.
The red-Black tree is a self-balancing binary search tree in which each node has an extra bit for denoting the color of the node, either red or black.
A red-black tree has the following properties:
- Red/Black Property: Each node in the tree is colored either red or black color.
- Root Property: The color of the root node is black.
- Leaf Property: The color of the leaf is black.
- Red Property: If the color of any node is red and it has children, the color of the children is black.
- Depth Property: For each node, any easy path from this node to any of its successor leaves has the same black-depth.
The properties of each node are:
- Color
- Key
- leftChild
- RightChild
- Parent (except root node)
Explain how the red-black tree maintains the self-balancing property.
The red-black color is used for balancing the tree. The limitations set on the node colors ensure that any particular path from the root to a leaf is not more than twice as long as any other path. It keeps maintaining the self-balancing property of the red-black tree.
Operations on a Red-Black Tree
Operations that can be performed on a red-black tree are:
- Rotating the subtrees in a Red-Black Tree: The positions of the nodes of a subtree are changed in the rotation operation. It is used for maintaining the properties of a red-black tree when it can be breached by operations such as insertion and deletion.
The two types of rotations are:
Left Rotate: Left Rotation is the arrangement of the nodes on the right node transformed into the arrangements on the left node.
Right Rotate: Right Rotation is the arrangement of the nodes on the left that transform the position on the right node.
Left-Right and Right-Left Rotate: When the positions are traversed from the left and to the right, it is called the left-right position. When the positions are traversed from the right and to the left, it is called the right-left position.


