Splay tree

Computer Algorithms

A splay tree is a binary search tree designed so that recently accessed elements can be accessed quickly again. Its insertion, lookup, and removal operations have O(log n) amortized time. Operations use splaying, which rearranges the tree to place an accessed element at the root, typically through tree rotations. The structure was invented by Daniel Sleator and Robert Tarjan in 1985.

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Type: Binary search tree
Core operation: Splaying
Inventors: Daniel Sleator and Robert Tarjan

Sources and credits

Article: Splay tree (English Wikipedia)
Wikidata: Q80729
Text: Card text is adapted from the English Wikipedia article by an automated summary. Wikipedia content is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for its contributors. CC BY-SA 4.0 · Article history and contributors
Illustration: AI-generated illustration. Not a photograph or documentary image. (model: gpt-image-2.5-flare)
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