Leetcode #897: Increasing Order Search Tree
In this guide, we solve Leetcode #897 Increasing Order Search Tree in Python and focus on the core idea that makes the solution efficient.
You will see the intuition, the step-by-step method, and a clean Python implementation you can use in interviews.
Problem Statement
Given the root of a binary search tree, rearrange the tree in in-order so that the leftmost node in the tree is now the root of the tree, and every node has no left child and only one right child. Example 1: Input: root = [5,3,6,2,4,null,8,1,null,null,null,7,9] Output: [1,null,2,null,3,null,4,null,5,null,6,null,7,null,8,null,9] Example 2: Input: root = [5,1,7] Output: [1,null,5,null,7] Constraints: The number of nodes in the given tree will be in the range [1, 100].
Quick Facts
- Difficulty: Easy
- Premium: No
- Tags: Stack, Tree, Depth-First Search, Binary Search Tree, Binary Tree
Intuition
The problem has a natural nested or last-in-first-out structure.
A stack lets us resolve matches in the correct order as we scan.
Approach
Push items as they appear and pop when you can finalize a decision.
The stack captures the unresolved part of the input.
Steps:
- Push elements as you scan.
- Pop when a rule or match is satisfied.
- Use the stack to compute results.
Example
Input: root = [5,3,6,2,4,null,8,1,null,null,null,7,9]
Output: [1,null,2,null,3,null,4,null,5,null,6,null,7,null,8,null,9]
Python Solution
# Definition for a binary tree node.
# class TreeNode:
# def __init__(self, val=0, left=None, right=None):
# self.val = val
# self.left = left
# self.right = right
class Solution:
def increasingBST(self, root: TreeNode) -> TreeNode:
def dfs(root):
if root is None:
return
nonlocal prev
dfs(root.left)
prev.right = root
root.left = None
prev = root
dfs(root.right)
dummy = prev = TreeNode(right=root)
dfs(root)
return dummy.right
Complexity
The time complexity is , and the space complexity is . The space complexity is .
Edge Cases and Pitfalls
Watch for boundary values, empty inputs, and duplicate values where applicable. If the problem involves ordering or constraints, confirm the invariant is preserved at every step.
Summary
This Python solution focuses on the essential structure of the problem and keeps the implementation interview-friendly while meeting the constraints.