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
Traversals refer to the process of visiting and accessing each element in a data structure, such as a tree or graph, exactly once.
Related terms
Depth-First Search (DFS): An algorithm that explores as far as possible along each branch before backtracking. It is often used for traversing trees or graphs.
Breadth-First Search (BFS): An algorithm that explores all the vertices of a graph at the same level before moving on to the next level. It is commonly used for finding shortest paths.
In-order traversal: A type of traversal specifically used for binary trees where nodes are visited in ascending order based on their values.