Discussion 5: Trees
Switch to Pensieve:
- Everyone: Go to pensieve.co, log in with your @berkeley.edu email, and enter your group number (which was in the email that assigned you to this lab).
Once you're on Pensieve, you don't need to return to this page; Pensieve has all the same content (but more features). If for some reason Penseive doesn't work, return to this page and continue with the discussion.
Getting Started
Everyone go around and say your name.
For fun: Think of a big word with at least three syllables, such as "solitary" or "conundrum" or "ominous". Try to use it as many times as you can during today's discussion, but in ways that don't give away that it's your big word. At the end, your group will try to guess each person's big word. Whoever uses their big word the most times (and at least twice) without their group guessing it wins. (You win nothing; it's just a game.)
To get help from a TA, If you do not have an in-person TA, you can reach your TA using this Zoom link.
If there are fewer than 3 people in your group, feel free to merge your group with another group in the room.
Trees
For a tree t
:
- Its root label can be any value, and
label(t)
returns it. - Its branches are trees, and
branches(t)
returns a list of branches. - An identical tree can be constructed with
tree(label(t), branches(t))
. - You can call functions that take trees as arguments, such as
is_leaf(t)
. - That's how you work with trees. No
t == x
ort[0]
orx in t
orlist(t)
, etc. - There's no way to change a tree (that doesn't violate an abstraction barrier).
Here's an example tree t1
, for which its branch branches(t1)[1]
is t2
.
t2 = tree(5, [tree(6), tree(7)])
t1 = tree(3, [tree(4), t2])
A path is a sequence of trees in which each is the parent of the next.
You don't need to know how tree
, label
, and branches
are implemented in
order to use them correctly, but here is the implementation from lecture.
def tree(label, branches=[]):
for branch in branches:
assert is_tree(branch), 'branches must be trees'
return [label] + list(branches)
def label(tree):
return tree[0]
def branches(tree):
return tree[1:]
def is_leaf(tree):
return not branches(tree)
def is_tree(tree):
if type(tree) != list or len(tree) < 1:
return False
for branch in branches(tree):
if not is_tree(branch):
return False
return True
Q1: Warm Up
What value is bound to result
?
result = label(min(branches(max([t1, t2], key=label)), key=label))
Solution
6: max([t1, t2], key=label)
evaluates to the t2
tree because its label 5 is
larger than t1
's label 3. Among t2
's branches (which are leaves), the left one
labeled 6 has a smaller label.
How convoluted! (That's a big word.)
Here's a quick refresher on how key
functions work with max
and min
,
max(s, key=f)
returns the item x
in s
for which f(x)
is largest.
>>> s = [-3, -5, -4, -1, -2]
>>> max(s)
-1
>>> max(s, key=abs)
-5
>>> max([abs(x) for x in s])
5
Therefore, max([t1, t2], key=label)
returns the tree with the largest label,
in this case t2
.
In case you're wondering, this expression does not violate an abstraction
barrier. [t1, t2]
and branches(t)
are both lists (not trees), and so it's
fine to call min
and max
on them.
Q2: Has Path
Implement has_path
, which takes a tree t
and a list p
. It returns whether
there is a path from the root of t
with labels p
. For example, t1
has a
path from its root with labels [3, 5, 6]
but not [3, 4, 6]
or [5, 6]
.
Important: Before trying to implement this function, discuss these questions from lecture about the recursive call of a tree processing function:
- What recursive calls will you make?
- What type of values do they return?
- What do the possible return values mean?
- How can you use those return values to complete your implementation?
If you get stuck, you can view our answers to these questions by clicking the hint button below, but please don't do that until your whole group agrees.
As you usual, you will call has_path
on each branch b
. You'll make this
call after comparing p[0]
to label(t)
, and so the second argument to
has_path
will be the rest of p
: has_path(b, p[1:])
.
What type of values do they return?
has_path
always returns a bool
value: True
or False
.
What do the possible return values mean?
If has_path(b, p[1:])
returns True
, then there is a path through branch b
for which p[1:]
are the node labels.
How can you use those return values to complete your implementation?
If you have already checked that label(t)
is equal to p[0]
, then a True
return value means there is a path through t
with labels p
using that branch
b
. A False
value means there is no path through that branch, but there
might be path through a different branch.
def has_path(t, p):
"""Return whether tree t has a path from the root with labels p.
>>> t2 = tree(5, [tree(6), tree(7)])
>>> t1 = tree(3, [tree(4), t2])
>>> has_path(t1, [5, 6]) # This path is not from the root of t1
False
>>> has_path(t2, [5, 6]) # This path is from the root of t2
True
>>> has_path(t1, [3, 5]) # This path does not go to a leaf, but that's ok
True
>>> has_path(t1, [3, 5, 6]) # This path goes to a leaf
True
>>> has_path(t1, [3, 4, 5, 6]) # There is no path with these labels
False
"""
if p == [label(t)]:
return True
elif label(t) != p[0]:
return False
else:
return any([has_path(b, p[1:]) for b in branches(t)])
for b in branches(t):
if has_path(b, p[1:]):
return True
return False
The base case expression p == [label(t)]
checks two things: that p
has one item and that the item is equal to label(t)
. Longer expressions (that don't fit the template) would also work, such as if len(p) == 1 and p[0] == label(t)
.
The recursive case expresses that if a path through some branch b
is labeled
p[1:]
, then there is a path through t
labeled p
.
If your group needs some guidance, you can click on the hints below, but please talk with your group first before reading the hints.
p
is a list of length one with the
label of t
as its only element. The second base case should check if the
first element of p
matches the label of t
.
p[0]
is equal to label(t)
, and so all that's left to check is that p[1:]
contains the labels in a path through one of the branches. One way is with
this template:
for ____:
if ____:
return True
return False
New Rule: Whoever in your group helped type the answer to the last question should not type the answer to the next one. Instead, just ask questions and give suggestions; give other members of your group a chance to type the answer.
Q3: Find Path
Implement find_path
, which takes a tree t
with unique labels and a value
x
. It returns a list containing the labels of the nodes along a path from the
root of t
to a node labeled x
.
If x
is not a label in t
, return None
. Assume that the labels of t
are unique.
First talk through how to make and use the recursive call. (Try it yourselves; don't just click the hint button. That's how you learn.)
find_path(b, x)
on each branch b
.
What type of values do they return?
Each recursive call will either return None
or a non-empty list of node labels.
What do the possible return values mean?
If find_path(b, x)
returns None
, then x
does not appear in b
. If
find_path(b, x)
returns a list, then it contains the node labels for a path
through b
that ends with the node labeled x
.
How can you use those return values to complete your implementation?
If a list is returned, then it contains all of the labels in the path except
label(t)
, which must be placed at the front.
def find_path(t, x):
"""
>>> t2 = tree(5, [tree(6), tree(7)])
>>> t1 = tree(3, [tree(4), t2])
>>> find_path(t1, 5)
[3, 5]
>>> find_path(t1, 4)
[3, 4]
>>> find_path(t1, 6)
[3, 5, 6]
>>> find_path(t2, 6)
[5, 6]
>>> print(find_path(t1, 2))
None
"""
if label(t) == x:
return [label(t)]
for b in branches(t):
path = find_path(b, x)
if path:
return [label(t)] + path
return None
[label(t)]
creates a one-element list of the labels along a path that starts at the root of t
and also ends there, since the root is labeled x
.
The assignment path = find_path(b, x)
allows the return value of this recursive call to be used twice: once to check if it's None
(which is a false value) and again to build a longer list.
The expression [label(t)] + path
for a tree t
and list path
creates a longer list that starts with the label of t
and continues with the elements of path
.
Please don't view the hints until you've discussed with your group and can't make progress.
x
is the label of t
, then return a list with one element that contains the label of t
.
path
to the result of a
recursive call to find_path(b, x)
so that you can both check whether it's
None
and extend it if it's a list.
For a list path
and a value v
, the expression [v] + path
creates a longer
list that starts with v
and then has the elements of path
.
Description Time! When your group has completed this question, it's time to
describe why this function does not have a base case that uses is_leaf
. Come
up with an explanation as a group, pick someone to present your answer, and then
tell your TA (on Zoom if your TA is remote).
Document the Occasion
For each person, the rest of the group should try to guess their big word (from the Getting Started section). The group only gets one guess. After they guess, reveal your big word and how many times you used it during discussion.
Please all fill out the attendance form (one submission per person per week).