Implement Trie (Prefix Tree)

Category

Trie

Checkbox

Difficulty

Medium

Index

Key Ideas

The key idea to solve this problem is to use a trie data structure to efficiently store and search for words.

Problem Number

208

Problem Summary

This problem (Problem Number: 208) is about implementing a Trie, also known as a Prefix Tree. The key goal is to design a data structure that supports efficient insertion and search operations for words. Some key pitfalls to watch out for include correctly handling the insert and search methods, managing the Trie's structure and nodes, and considering edge cases such as empty strings or duplicate words.

Solution Summary

The best solution to solve the problem of implementing a Trie (Prefix Tree) is to use a Trie data structure. The Trie is a tree-like structure that stores words by breaking them down into characters. Each node in the Trie represents a character, and the edges represent the next characters in the word. By using a Trie, we can efficiently store and search for words with common prefixes. To insert a word into the Trie, we start from the root node and traverse the Trie, creating new nodes as necessary. To search for a word, we traverse the Trie following the characters in the word, and if we reach the end of the word, it is considered present in the Trie. This solution provides an efficient way to store and search for words, making it a suitable choice for problems involving prefix matching and word retrieval.