counting number of elements less than X in a BST - c++

Question

I had implemented a BST for a multiset using the C++ code below, whereas each node contains the number of occurrence num of each distinct number data, and I try to find the number of elements less than certain value x, using the order function below.
It works, however, inefficient in terms of execution time.
Is there any method with better time complexity?
struct Node {
int data;
int height;
int num;
Node *left;
Node *right;
};
int order(Node *n, int x) {
int sum = 0;
if (n != NULL) {
if (n->data < x) {
sum += n->num;
sum += order(n->right, x);
}
sum += order(n->left, x);
}
return sum;
}

Answer 1

You can bring the algorithm down to O(logN) time by storing in each node the number of elements in the subtree of which it is the root. Then you'd only have to recurse on one of the two children of each node (go left if x < node->data, right if x > node->data), which if the tree is balanced only takes logarithmic time.
struct Node {
int data;
int height;
int num;
int size; // numer of elements in the subtree starting at this node
Node *left;
Node *right;
};
int order(Node *n, int x) {
if(n == NULL) return 0;
// elements less than n->data make up the whole left subtree
if (x == n->data) {
return n->left ? n->left->size : 0;
}
// even smaller? just recurse left
else if (x < n->data) {
return order(n->left, x);
}
// bigger? take the whole left subtree and part of the right one
else {
return (n->left ? n->left->size : 0) + order(n->right, x);
}
}
Of course, now you have to keep track of the size, but this can be done very efficiently when updating the tree: simply recalculate the size (n->left->size + n->right->size + 1) of each modified node in an insertion or deletion.

Answer 2

If you can add the size to your structure, I highly recommend using Dario Petrillo’s answer.
If you have to stick to your structure, you can reduce the number of instructions and recursions.
int count_all(Node* n) {
int acc = n->num;
if (n->left != NULL) acc += count_all(n->left);
if (n->right != NULL) acc += count_all(n->right);
return acc;
}
int order(Node *n, int x) {
if (n == NULL) return 0;
// Find the first left node which is < x
while (n->data >= x) {
n = n->left;
if (n == NULL) return 0;
}
assert(n != NULL && n->data < x);
int sum = n->num;
// Grab everything left because all of them are < x
if (n->left != NULL) sum += count_all(n->left);
// Some of the right nodes may be < x, some may not
// Repeat the algorithm to find out
if (n->right != NULL) sum += order(n->right, x);
return sum;
}
This reduces the number of recursions when the root is bigger than x and you want to quickly find the next left node that satisfies n->data < x. It also removes a ton of unnecessary comparisons to x for the left side of a tree where you already know that everything is < x.