What is Traversing in Data Structure? Examples and Types

Traversing in data structures refers to the process of visiting and processing each element or node in a data structure in a systematic way. It involves accessing and examining data items to perform specific operations like searching, printing, or modifying.

Examples of traversing include:

  1. Tree traversal: Inorder, Preorder, Postorder traversal methods visit nodes in specific orders (left-root-right, root-left-right, left-right-root).

  2. Graph traversal: Depth-First Search (DFS) and Breadth-First Search (BFS) visit nodes in a graph to explore paths or find connectivity.

  3. Array traversal: Iterating through array elements to perform operations like summing values or searching for specific items.

Traversing is fundamental for data manipulation and analysis in computer science.