NIST

heap

(data structure)

Definition: A complete tree where every node has a key more extreme (greater or less) than or equal to the key of its parent. Usually understood to be a binary heap.

Generalization (I am a kind of ...)
complete tree.

Specialization (... is a kind of me.)
binary heap, k-ary heap, binomial heap, Fibonacci heap.

Aggregate parent (I am a part of or used in ...)
heapsort, priority queue.

Aggregate child (... is a part of or used in me.)
heap property.

Note: Speaking about operating systems, "heap" refers to memory from which chunks can be allocated.

Author: CLK

Implementation

Bro. David Carlson's heaps and heapsort tutorial and code (C++).

More information

B-heaps allocate subtrees to a single page for better virtual memory performance.

An illustration of a heap followed by how it is used in heap sort.

J. W. J. Williams, Algorithm 232 Heapsort, CACM, 7(6):378-348, June 1964.


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Entry modified 6 April 2023.
HTML page formatted Fri Apr 7 09:27:46 2023.

Cite this as:
Chris L. Kuszmaul, "heap", in Dictionary of Algorithms and Data Structures [online], Paul E. Black, ed. 6 April 2023. (accessed TODAY) Available from: https://www.nist.gov/dads/HTML/heap.html