Cause of Infinite Loop? (iterative inorder traversal implementation) C++ - c++

Question

Question: Implement Inorder Traversal iteratively.
My Attempt: (results in an infinite loop that I haven't been able to debug) any help or suggestions greatly appreciated
/**
* Definition for a binary tree node.
* struct TreeNode {
* int val;
* TreeNode *left;
* TreeNode *right;
* TreeNode() : val(0), left(nullptr), right(nullptr) {}
* TreeNode(int x) : val(x), left(nullptr), right(nullptr) {}
* TreeNode(int x, TreeNode *left, TreeNode *right) : val(x), left(left), right(right) {}
* };
*/
#include <vector>
#include <stack>
#include <unordered_set>
using namespace std;
class Solution {
public:
vector<int> inorderTraversal(TreeNode* root) {
//iterative sol:
vector<int> sol;
stack<TreeNode*> dfs;
dfs.push(root);
unordered_set<TreeNode*> visited;
visited.insert({root});
TreeNode* temp;
while (!dfs.empty()) {
if (dfs.top()->left != nullptr && visited.find(dfs.top()->left) == visited.end()) {
dfs.push(dfs.top()->left);
visited.insert({dfs.top()->left});
}
else {
sol.push_back(dfs.top()->val);
temp = dfs.top();
dfs.pop();
if (temp->right != nullptr && visited.find(temp->right) == visited.end()) {
dfs.push(temp->right);
visited.insert({temp->right});
}
}
}
return sol;
}
};
EDIT: I don't have the specific internal definitions of the TreeNode, but if you want to run the problem, checkout: https://leetcode.com/problems/binary-tree-inorder-traversal/

Answer 1

Here is the problem :
dfs.push(dfs.top()->left);
visited.insert(dfs.top()->left);
You are pushing to stack (then dfs.top() will change) and then accessing dfs.top()->left in the next line.

Answer 2

You are modifying the stack in the first line here
dfs.push(dfs.top()->left);
visited.insert({dfs.top()->left});
what you want to do is to mark the previous dfs.top()->left as visited, but you are adding more element on top of the stack and thus the new dfs.top() is a different one.
To solve this problem you should use store the previous dfs.top()->left in a different variable.
As a best practice, the variable or object you are working on should be immutable, since the stack is not immutable don't use its top while inserting into it or doing some other computations. Instead store your required variable into something immutatble like temp here
temp = dfs.top();
if (temp->left != nullptr && visited.find(temp->left) == visited.end()) {
dfs.push(temp->left);
visited.insert({temp->left});
}
else {
sol.push_back(dfs.top()->val);
dfs.pop();
if (temp->right != nullptr && visited.find(temp->right) == visited.end()) {
dfs.push(temp->right);
visited.insert({temp->right});
}
}

Answer 3

It only takes 2 simple rules to implement an iterative in-order traversal.
If you're at node X, then:
If X has a right child, then move to the right child, and follow as many left links as possible to find the next node.
Otherwise, find the closest ancestor of X on the right, i.e., the closest ancestor whose left subtree contains X. If there is no such ancestor then you're done.
If your tree doesn't have parent links, then you'll need a stack to store the right ancestors, but there's no need for a visited set:
vector<int> inorderTraversal(TreeNode* tree) {
vector<int> ret;
stack<TreeNode *> nextParents;
for(;tree; tree = tree.left) {
nextParents.push(tree);
}
while(!nextParents.empty()) {
tree = nextParents.pop();
ret.push_back(tree->val);
for(tree = tree.right; tree; tree = tree.left) {
nextParents.push(tree);
}
}
return ret;
}