""" Binary Tree Flattening Algorithm This code defines an algorithm to flatten a binary tree into a linked list represented using the right pointers of the tree nodes. It uses in-place flattening and demonstrates the flattening process along with a display function to visualize the flattened linked list. https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/flatten-a-binary-tree-into-linked-list Author: Arunkumar A Date: 04/09/2023 """ from __future__ import annotations class TreeNode: """ A TreeNode has data variable and pointers to TreeNode objects for its left and right children. """ def __init__(self, data: int) -> None: self.data = data self.left: TreeNode | None = None self.right: TreeNode | None = None def flatten(root: TreeNode | None) -> None: """ Flatten a binary tree into a linked list in-place, where the linked list is represented using the right pointers of the tree nodes. Args: root (TreeNode): The root of the binary tree to be flattened. Examples: >>> root = TreeNode(1) >>> root.left = TreeNode(2) >>> root.right = TreeNode(5) >>> root.left.left = TreeNode(3) >>> root.left.right = TreeNode(4) >>> root.right.right = TreeNode(6) >>> flatten(root) >>> root.data 1 >>> root.right.right is None False >>> root.right.right = TreeNode(3) >>> root.right.right.right is None True """ if not root: return # Flatten the left subtree flatten(root.left) # Save the right subtree right_subtree = root.right # Make the left subtree the new right subtree root.right = root.left root.left = None # Find the end of the new right subtree current = root while current.right: current = current.right # Append the original right subtree to the end current.right = right_subtree # Flatten the updated right subtree flatten(right_subtree) def display_linked_list(root: TreeNode | None) -> None: """ Display the flattened linked list. Args: root (TreeNode | None): The root of the flattened linked list. Examples: >>> root = TreeNode(1) >>> root.right = TreeNode(2) >>> root.right.right = TreeNode(3) >>> display_linked_list(root) 1 2 3 >>> root = None >>> display_linked_list(root) (no output) """ current = root while current: print(current.data, end=" ") current = current.right def main() -> None: # Create a sample binary tree root = TreeNode(1) root.left = TreeNode(2) root.right = TreeNode(5) root.left.left = TreeNode(3) root.left.right = TreeNode(4) root.right.right = TreeNode(6) # Flatten the binary tree to a linked list flatten(root) # Display the flattened linked list to verify correctness print("Flattened Linked List:") display_linked_list(root) if __name__ == "__main__": main()