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Think of it this way, this problem is asking you to traverse the binary tree in order. That is, left subtree, root, and right subtree - except that you skip the right nodes of the the left subtree, and similarly, you skip the the left nodes of the right subtree.
Now to the code...
Basically, another function is used with an extra parameter that takes an int --> top_view(Node root, int side). The purpose of the side is precisely skip the right nodes of the left subtree, and the left nodes of the right subtree thus the ' top view '.
This overloaded function first checks that root is not null. Then it continues to traverse down the left until it cannot go any further and then starts printing out the values. The recursion unravels until the root is reached at which point the right subtree is traversed. The challenge here is to skip the left nodes of the right subtree. To do this, the recursion function is called with the int 'sides' with values -1, and 1. This allows the recursive calls to skip the right nodes of the left subtree and the left nodes of the right subtree.
It's alot easier to understand after you understand the problem.
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Tree : Top View
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Think of it this way, this problem is asking you to traverse the binary tree in order. That is, left subtree, root, and right subtree - except that you skip the right nodes of the the left subtree, and similarly, you skip the the left nodes of the right subtree.
Now to the code...
Basically, another function is used with an extra parameter that takes an int --> top_view(Node root, int side). The purpose of the side is precisely skip the right nodes of the left subtree, and the left nodes of the right subtree thus the ' top view '.
This overloaded function first checks that root is not null. Then it continues to traverse down the left until it cannot go any further and then starts printing out the values. The recursion unravels until the root is reached at which point the right subtree is traversed. The challenge here is to skip the left nodes of the right subtree. To do this, the recursion function is called with the int 'sides' with values -1, and 1. This allows the recursive calls to skip the right nodes of the left subtree and the left nodes of the right subtree.
It's alot easier to understand after you understand the problem.