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Height of a generic tree from parent array

Last Updated : 01 Nov, 2024
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Given a tree of size n as array parent[0..n-1] where every index i in the parent[] represents a node and the value at i represents the immediate parent of that node. For root, the node value will be -1. Find the height of the generic tree given the parent links.

Examples: 

Input: parent[] = [-1, 0, 0, 0, 3, 1, 1, 2]
Output : 2

height-of-a-generic-tree-from-parent-array-2


Input: parent[] = [-1, 0, 1, 2, 3]
Output : 4

height-of-a-generic-tree-from-parent-array

Here, a generic tree is sometimes also called an N-ary tree or N-way tree where N denotes the maximum number of child a node can have. In this problem, the array represents n number of nodes in the tree.

The naive approach is to traverse up the tree from the node till the root node is reached with node value -1. While Traversing for each node stores maximum path length. The Time Complexity of this solution is O(n^2).

Table of Content

  • [Expected Approach - 1] Using BFS - O(n) Time and O(n) Space
  • [Expected Approach - 2] Without using map - O(n) Time and O(n) Space

[Expected Approach - 1] Using BFS - O(n) Time and O(n) Space

Build graph for N-ary Tree in O(n) time and apply BFS on the stored graph in O(n) time and while doing BFS store maximum reached level. This solution does two iterations to find the height of N-ary tree.

Below is the implementation of the above approach: 

C++
// C++ code of finding height of N-array // tree using BFS  #include <bits/stdc++.h> using namespace std;  int buildTree(vector<int> &parent, int n,                vector<vector<int>> &adj) {     int root = -1;      // Iterate through all nodes to     //establish connections     for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {         if (parent[i] == -1)             root = i;         else {             adj[i].push_back(parent[i]);             adj[parent[i]].push_back(i);         }     }     return root; }  // Function to compute height of the tree  // using BFS int getTreeHeight(int root,                    vector<vector<int>> &adj) {      // Visited map to track nodes     map<int, bool> visited;      // Pair stores (node, level)     queue<pair<int, int>> q;     int maxHeight = 0;      // Start BFS from the    	// root node     q.push({root, 0});      while (!q.empty()) {                auto node = q.front().first;         auto level = q.front().second;         q.pop();          visited[node] = true;         maxHeight = max(maxHeight, level);          // Traverse all children of the       	// current node         for (int child : adj[node]) {             if (!visited[child]) {                                // Increment level                 q.push({child, level + 1});             }         }     }      return maxHeight; }  int main() {        // Example: N-ary tree represented    	// by parent array     vector<int> parent = {-1, 0, 0, 0, 3, 1, 1, 2};     int n = parent.size();      vector<vector<int>> adj(n);     int root = buildTree(parent, n, adj);     int height = getTreeHeight(root, adj);      cout << height << endl;     return 0; } 
Java
// Java code to find the height of an // N-ary tree using BFS  import java.util.*;  class GfG {        static int buildTree(int[] parent, int n,                          List<List<Integer> > adj) {         int root = -1;          // Iterate through all nodes to establish         // connections         for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {             if (parent[i] == -1)                 root = i;             else {                 adj.get(i).add(parent[i]);                 adj.get(parent[i]).add(i);             }         }         return root;     }      // Function to compute height of the   	// tree using BFS     static int getTreeHeight(int root,                              List<List<Integer> > adj) {         Map<Integer, Boolean> visited = new HashMap<>();         Queue<int[]> q = new LinkedList<>();         int maxHeight = 0;          // Start BFS from the root node         q.add(new int[] { root, 0 });          while (!q.isEmpty()) {             int node = q.peek()[0];             int level = q.peek()[1];             q.poll();              visited.put(node, true);             maxHeight = Math.max(maxHeight, level);              // Traverse all children of the           	// current node             for (int child : adj.get(node)) {                 if (!visited.getOrDefault(child, false)) {                     q.add(new int[] { child, level + 1 });                 }             }         }         return maxHeight;     }      public static void main(String[] args) {                int[] parent = { -1, 0, 0, 0, 3, 1, 1, 2 };         int n = parent.length;         List<List<Integer> > adj = new ArrayList<>(n);         for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {             adj.add(new ArrayList<>());         }          int root = buildTree(parent, n, adj);         int height = getTreeHeight(root, adj);          System.out.println(height);     } } 
Python
# Python code to find the height of an # N-ary tree using BFS  from collections import deque, defaultdict  def build_tree(parent):     adj = defaultdict(list)     root = -1      # Iterate through all nodes to     # establish connections     for i, p in enumerate(parent):         if p == -1:             root = i         else:             adj[i].append(p)             adj[p].append(i)      return root, adj  # Function to compute height of the # tree using BFS  def get_tree_height(root, adj):     visited = set()     q = deque([(root, 0)])     max_height = 0      # Start BFS from the root node     while q:         node, level = q.popleft()         visited.add(node)         max_height = max(max_height, level)          # Traverse all children of the          # current node         for child in adj[node]:             if child not in visited:                                # Increment level                 q.append((child, level + 1))      return max_height  parent = [-1, 0, 0, 0, 3, 1, 1, 2] root, adj = build_tree(parent) height = get_tree_height(root, adj) print(height) 
C#
// C# code to find the height of an // N-ary tree using BFS  using System; using System.Collections.Generic;  class GfG {        static int BuildTree(int[] parent, int n,                          List<List<int> > adj) {         int root = -1;          // Iterate through all nodes to establish         // connections         for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {             if (parent[i] == -1)                 root = i;             else {                 adj[i].Add(parent[i]);                 adj[parent[i]].Add(i);             }         }         return root;     }      // Function to compute height of the   	// tree using BFS     static int GetTreeHeight(int root, List<List<int> > adj) {         var visited = new Dictionary<int, bool>();         var q = new Queue<(int, int)>();         int maxHeight = 0;          // Start BFS from the root node         q.Enqueue((root, 0));          while (q.Count > 0) {             var(node, level) = q.Dequeue();             visited[node] = true;             maxHeight = Math.Max(maxHeight, level);              // Traverse all children of the            	// current node             foreach(int child in adj[node]) {                 if (!visited.ContainsKey(child)                     || !visited[child]) {                      q.Enqueue((child, level + 1));                 }             }         }         return maxHeight;     }      static void Main(string[] args) {                int[] parent = { -1, 0, 0, 0, 3, 1, 1, 2 };         int n = parent.Length;          List<List<int> > adj = new List<List<int> >(n);         for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {             adj.Add(new List<int>());         }          int root = BuildTree(parent, n, adj);         int height = GetTreeHeight(root, adj);          Console.WriteLine(height);     } } 
JavaScript
// JavaScript code to find the height of an N-ary tree using // BFS  function buildTree(parent) {     let adj         = Array.from({length : parent.length}, () => []);     let root = -1;      // Iterate through all nodes to establish     // connections     for (let i = 0; i < parent.length; i++) {         if (parent[i] === -1)             root = i;         else {             adj[i].push(parent[i]);             adj[parent[i]].push(i);         }     }     return {root, adj}; }  // Function to compute height of the  // tree using BFS function getTreeHeight(root, adj) {     let visited = new Set();     let q = [ [ root, 0 ] ];     let maxHeight = 0;      // Start BFS from the root node     while (q.length) {         let [node, level] = q.shift();         visited.add(node);         maxHeight = Math.max(maxHeight, level);          // Traverse all children of the         // current node         for (let child of adj[node]) {             if (!visited.has(child)) {                              // Increment level                 q.push([ child, level + 1 ]);             }         }     }      return maxHeight; }  const parent = [ -1, 0, 0, 0, 3, 1, 1, 2 ]; const {root, adj} = buildTree(parent); const height = getTreeHeight(root, adj); console.log(height); 

Output
2 

[Expected Approach - 2] Without using map - O(n) Time and O(n) Space

We can find the height of the N-ary Tree in only one iteration. We visit nodes from 0 to n-1 iteratively and mark the unvisited ancestors recursively if they are not visited before till we reach a node which is visited, or we reach the root node. If we reach the visited node while traversing up the tree using parent links, then we use its height and will not go further in recursion.

Explanation For Example 1:

height-of-a-generic-tree-from-parent-array-2


  • For node 0: Check for Root node is true, 
    Return 0 as height, Mark node 0 as visited 
  • For node 1: Recur for an immediate ancestor, i.e 0, which is already visited 
    So, Use its height and return height(node 0) +1 
    Mark node 1 as visited 
  • For node 2: Recur for an immediate ancestor, i.e 0, which is already visited 
    So, Use its height and return height(node 0) +1 
    Mark node 2 as visited 
  • For node 3: Recur for an immediate ancestor, i.e 0, which is already visited 
    So, Use its height and return height(node 0) +1 
    Mark node 3 as visited 
  • For node 4: Recur for an immediate ancestor, i.e 3, which is already visited 
    So, Use its height and return height(node 3) +1 
    Mark node 3 as visited 
  • For node 5: Recur for an immediate ancestor, i.e 1, which is already visited 
    So, Use its height and return height(node 1) +1 
    Mark node 5 as visited 
  • For node 6: Recur for an immediate ancestor, i.e 1, which is already visited 
    So, Use its height and return height(node 1) +1 
    Mark node 6 as visited 
  • For node 7: Recur for an immediate ancestor, i.e 2, which is already visited 
    So, Use its height and return height(node 2) +1 
  • Mark node 7 as visited
    Hence, we processed each node in the N-ary tree only once. 

Below is the implementation of the above approach: 

C++
// C++ code of finding height of N-array // tree  #include <bits/stdc++.h> using namespace std;  // Recur For Ancestors of node and // store height of node at last int fillHeight(vector<int> &parent, int node,                 vector<int> &visited, vector<int> &height) {        // If root node     if (parent[node] == -1) {                // mark root node as visited         visited[node] = 1;         return 0;     }      // If node is already visited     if (visited[node])         return height[node];      // Visit node and calculate its   	// height     visited[node] = 1;      // Recur for the parent node     height[node] = 1 + fillHeight(parent,  					parent[node], visited, height);      // Return calculated height for node     return height[node]; }  int findHeight(vector<int> &parent) {        int n = parent.size();      // To store max height     int maxHeight = 0;      // To check whether or not node is    	// visited before     vector<int> visited(n, 0);      // For storing the height of each node     vector<int> height(n, 0);      // Calculate the height of all nodes     for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {          // If not visited before         if (!visited[i])             height[i] = fillHeight(parent, i, visited, height);          // Store maximum height so far         maxHeight = max(maxHeight, height[i]);     }      return maxHeight; }  int main() {     vector<int> parent = {-1, 0, 0, 0, 3, 1, 1, 2};      cout << findHeight(parent) << endl;     return 0; } 
Java
// Java code of finding height of N-array // tree  import java.util.*;  class GfG {        // Recur For Ancestors of node and store height of node     // at last     static int fillHeight(List<Integer> parent, int node,                           List<Integer> visited,                           List<Integer> height) {                // If root node         if (parent.get(node) == -1) {                        // mark root node as visited             visited.set(node, 1);             return 0;         }          // If node is already visited         if (visited.get(node) == 1)             return height.get(node);          // Visit node and calculate its height         visited.set(node, 1);          // Recur for the parent node         height.set(node, 1 + fillHeight(parent,                                           parent.get(node),                                           visited, height));          // Return calculated height       	// for node         return height.get(node);     }      static int findHeight(List<Integer> parent) {         int n = parent.size();          // To store max height         int maxHeight = 0;          // To check whether or not node is        	// visited before         List<Integer> visited             = new ArrayList<>(Collections.nCopies(n, 0));          // For storing the height of each node         List<Integer> height             = new ArrayList<>(Collections.nCopies(n, 0));          // Calculate the height of all nodes         for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {                        // If not visited before             if (visited.get(i) == 0)                 height.set(i, fillHeight(parent, i, visited,                                          height));              // Store maximum height so far             maxHeight = Math.max(maxHeight, height.get(i));         }          return maxHeight;     }      public static void main(String[] args) {         List<Integer> parent             = Arrays.asList(-1, 0, 0, 0, 3, 1, 1, 2);         System.out.println(findHeight(parent));     } } 
Python
# Python code of finding height of N-array # tree  def fillHeight(parent, node, visited, height):        # If root node     if parent[node] == -1:                # mark root node as visited         visited[node] = 1         return 0      # If node is already visited     if visited[node]:         return height[node]      # Visit node and calculate its height     visited[node] = 1      # Recur for the parent node     height[node] = 1 + fillHeight(parent, \                                   parent[node], visited, height)      # Return calculated height for node     return height[node]   def findHeight(parent):     n = len(parent)      # To store max height     maxHeight = 0      # To check whether or not node is      # visited before     visited = [0] * n      # For storing the height of each node     height = [0] * n      # Calculate the height of all nodes     for i in range(n):                # If not visited before         if not visited[i]:             height[i] = fillHeight(parent, i, \                                    visited, height)          # Store maximum height so far         maxHeight = max(maxHeight, height[i])      return maxHeight   if __name__ == "__main__":     parent = [-1, 0, 0, 0, 3, 1, 1, 2]     print(findHeight(parent)) 
C#
// C# code of finding height of N-array // tree  using System; using System.Collections.Generic;  class GfG {        // Recur For Ancestors of node and store height of node     // at last     static int FillHeight(List<int> parent, int node,                                  List<int> visited,                                  List<int> height) {         // If root node         if (parent[node] == -1) {                        // mark root node as visited             visited[node] = 1;             return 0;         }          // If node is already visited         if (visited[node] == 1)             return height[node];          // Visit node and calculate        	// its height         visited[node] = 1;          // Recur for the parent node         height[node] = 1 + FillHeight(parent, parent[node],                                     visited, height);          // Return calculated height for node         return height[node];     }      static int FindHeight(List<int> parent) {         int n = parent.Count;          // To store max height         int maxHeight = 0;          // To check whether or not node is visited before         List<int> visited = new List<int>(new int[n]);          // For storing the height of each node         List<int> height = new List<int>(new int[n]);          // Calculate the height of all nodes         for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {                        // If not visited before             if (visited[i] == 0)                 height[i] = FillHeight(parent, i, visited,                                        height);              // Store maximum height so far             maxHeight = Math.Max(maxHeight, height[i]);         }          return maxHeight;     }      static void Main(string[] args) {         List<int> parent             = new List<int>{ -1, 0, 0, 0, 3, 1, 1, 2 };         Console.WriteLine(FindHeight(parent));     } } 
JavaScript
// Javascript code of finding height of N-array // tree  function fillHeight(parent, node, visited, height) {      // If root node     if (parent[node] === -1) {              // mark root node as visited         visited[node] = 1;         return 0;     }      // If node is already visited     if (visited[node])         return height[node];      // Visit node and calculate its height     visited[node] = 1;      // Recur for the parent node     height[node] = 1                    + fillHeight(parent, parent[node],                                 visited, height);      // Return calculated height for node     return height[node]; }  function findHeight(parent) {      let n = parent.length;      // To store max height     let maxHeight = 0;      // To check whether or not node     // is visited before     let visited = Array(n).fill(0);      // For storing the height of each node     let height = Array(n).fill(0);      // Calculate the height of all nodes     for (let i = 0; i < n; i++) {              // If not visited before         if (!visited[i])             height[i]                 = fillHeight(parent, i, visited, height);          // Store maximum height so far         maxHeight = Math.max(maxHeight, height[i]);     }      return maxHeight; }  let parent = [ -1, 0, 0, 0, 3, 1, 1, 2 ]; console.log(findHeight(parent)); 

Output
2 

Next Article
Find distance between two nodes of a Binary Tree

A

Abhishek rajput
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Article Tags :
  • Tree
  • Graph
  • DSA
  • n-ary-tree
Practice Tags :
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