Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Verified for the 2026 exam
Verified for the 2026 exam•Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Definition
Traversal algorithms are methods used to visit and process all elements in a data structure, such as arrays, linked lists, or trees. They allow you to access each element individually and perform operations on them.
Related terms
Depth-First Search (DFS): DFS is a traversal algorithm that explores as far as possible along each branch before backtracking. It uses a stack to keep track of visited nodes.
Breadth-First Search (BFS): BFS is a traversal algorithm that explores all the vertices of a graph in breadth-first order, meaning it visits all neighbors before moving on to their neighbors. It uses a queue to maintain the order of exploration.
In-order Traversal: In-order traversal is commonly used for binary trees and visits nodes in ascending order when applied to binary search trees. It follows the pattern left subtree - root - right subtree.