Populating Next Right Pointers in Each Node

Given a binary tree

struct TreeLinkNode {
  TreeLinkNode *left;
  TreeLinkNode *right;
  TreeLinkNode *next;
}

Populate each next pointer to point to its next right node. If there is no next right node, the next pointer should be set toNULL.

Initially, all next pointers are set toNULL.

Note:

• You may only use constant extra space.

• Recursive approach is fine, implicit stack space does not count as extra space for this problem.

• You may assume that it is a perfect binary tree (ie, all leaves are at the same level, and every parent has two children).

Example:

Given the following perfect binary tree,

     1
   /  \
  2    3
 / \  / \
4  5  6  7

After calling your function, the tree should look like:

     1 -> NULL
   /  \
  2 -> 3 -> NULL
 / \  / \
4->5->6->7 -> NULL

Solution

/**
 * Definition for binary tree with next pointer.
 * public class TreeLinkNode {
 *     int val;
 *     TreeLinkNode left, right, next;
 *     TreeLinkNode(int x) { val = x; }
 * }
 */
public class Solution {
    public void connect(TreeLinkNode root) {
        if (root == null) return;

        Queue<TreeLinkNode> queue = new LinkedList<>();
        queue.add(root);

        while(!queue.isEmpty()) {
            int size = queue.size();
            int index = 0;
            TreeLinkNode previous = null;
            while (index < size) {
                TreeLinkNode node = queue.poll();
                if (node.left != null) queue.add(node.left);
                if (node.right != null) queue.add(node.right);
                if (previous != null) {
                    previous.next = node;
                }
                previous = node;
                index++;
            }
        }
    }
}