Description
1 Overview
Each student is asked to implement an API for Binary Search Trees in C.
1.1 Objectives
Use C dynamic memory management functions – malloc & free
Implement a data structure using structs and pointers
Additional practice with recursion
2 Detailed Description
2.1 Introduction
In Computer Science, a binary tree is a hierarchical structure of nodes, each node referencing at most to two
child nodes. Every binary tree has a root from which the rst two child nodes originate. If a node has no
children, then such nodes are usually termed leaves, and mark the extent of the tree structure.
A particular kind of binary tree, called the binary search tree, is very useful for storing data for rapid access,
storage, and deletion. Data in a binary search tree are stored in tree nodes, and must have associated with
them an ordinal value or key; these keys are used to structure the tree such that the value of a left child node
is less than that of the parent node, and the value of a right child node is greater than that of the parent
node. Sometimes, the key and datum are one and the same. Typical key values include simple integers or
strings, the actual data for the key will depend on the application.1
Note: this project does not call for balanced binary search trees. Although, you might consider
what additions and changes would be necessary to achieved balanced trees in the future.
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taken from: https://www.codeproject.com/KB/recipes/BinarySearchTree.aspx
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Figure 1: an example of a binary search tree
2.2 What to do
Create a C le called “bst.c” that implements binary search trees of strings. Your implementation should
make no assumptions about the number of nodes, or the eventual structure of the BST. Therefore, you
should use C dynamic memory allocation (malloc()) to create space for each node as necessary. You should
also clean-up nodes that are removed or destroyed using free(). The header le “bst.h” is available on
Blackboard; your project should implement all of the functions declared in the header le. Speci cally, you
will be implementing:
int bst_create ( bst *newTree ); 1
int bst_insert ( bst *theTree, char *value );
int bst_first ( bst *theTree, char *dst ); 3
int bst_next ( bst *theTree, char *dst );
int bst_previous( bst *theTree, char *dst ); 5
int bst_last ( bst *theTree, char *dst );
int bst_find ( bst *theTree, char *value ); 7
int bst_remove ( bst *theTree, char *value );
int bst_destroy ( bst *theTree ); 9
NOTE: You should not modify the provided header le without our permission
Your le will not run on it’s own, but will need to be called from some other source le that contains a main().
For testing purposes, you might implement a small program (called a driver program) that exercises your
binary search tree implementation.
2.3 Compiling you program
Please use gcc to compile and submit your program. speci cally use the following command to compile your
program:
gcc -Wall -pedantic-errors -Werror -c bst.c 1
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gcc -Wall -pedantic-errors -Werror bst.o -o test_driver
Replace with the lename for your driver program. I chose driver.c for mine, and I suggest you
do the same. We’ll explain the other options in class, but the result should be a program called test-driver
All your C programs in this course should be written in correct C, which means they must compile and run
correctly when compiled with the compiler gcc, with the options -Wall, -pedantic-errors, and -Werror.
Except as noted below, you may use any C language features in your project that have been covered in class,
or that are in the chapters covered so far and during the time this project is assigned, so long as your program
works successfully using the compiler options mentioned above.
3 Submission
Your source code le must have a comment near the top that contains your name, StudentID, and M-number.
Project should be submitted via Blackboard by October 14, 2021, 11:59pm. Follow these instructions
to turn in your project.
You should submit the following les:
Make le
bst.c
any other source les your project needs
The following submission directions use the command-line submit program that we will use for all projects
this semester.
1. create a directory for your project:
mkdir bst
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2. create (or copy) all of your source les in this directory. Example: To copy a le called example.c into
your bst directory:
cp example.c bst 1
3. change parent directory of your project directory:
cd bst/.. 1
4. Create a tar le named .tar.gz, where is your studentID and is the directory containing the code for your project, by typing:
tar -czf .tar bst
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5. Finally, submit the compressed tar le to Blackboard in accordance with the class policies.
Late assignments will not be given credit.
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4 Grading
While this rubric is subject to change based on class performance, the current grading rubric for this assignment is as follows:
component value
Correctness 40
Completeness 40
Code Quality 20
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