Summary: PREPRINT. In Proc. Workshop on Algorithms and Data
Structures,pages 6071. Springer Verlag, 1993.
Balanced Search Trees Made Simple
Arne Andersson ?
Department of Computer Science, Lund University, Box 118, S221 00 Lund, Sweden
Abstract. As a contribution to the recent debate on simple implementa
tions of dictionaries, we present new maintenance algorithms for balanced
trees. In terms of code simplicity, our algorithms compare favourably
with those for deterministic and probabilistic skip lists.
It is well known that there is a huge gap between theory and practice in computer
programming. While companies producing computers or cars are anxious to use
the best technology available -- at least they try to convince their customers that
they do so -- the philosophy is often different in software engineering; it is enough
to produce programs that ``work.'' Efficient algorithms for sorting and searching,
which are taught in introductory courses, are often replaced by poor methods,
such as bubble sorting and linked lists. If your program turns out to require too
much time or space you advice your customer to buy a new, heavier and faster,
This situation strongly motivates an extensive search for simple and short