#!/usr/bin/env python __author__ = "bt3" from binary_search_tree import BST, Node def find_ancestor(path, low_item, high_item): while path: current_item = path[0] if current_item < low_item: try: path = path[2:] except: return current_item elif current_item > high_item: try: path = path[1:] except: return current_item elif low_item <= current_item <= high_item: return current_item def find_ancestor2(tree, n1, n2): if not tree: return False if n1 <= tree.item and n2 >= tree.item or (not tree.left and not tree.right) : return tree.item if tree.left and (n1 < tree.item and n2 < tree.item): return find_ancestor(tree.left, n1, n2) or tree.item if tree.right and (n1 > tree.item and n2 > tree.item): return find_ancestor(tree.right, n1, n2) or tree.item if __name__ == '__main__': bst = BST() l = [10, 5, 6, 3, 8, 2, 1, 11, 9, 4] for i in l: bst.add(i) nodes = bst.preorder_array() print 'Original: ', l print 'Preorder: ', nodes print 'Method 1: ' print 'Ancestor for 3, 11:', find_ancestor(nodes, 3, 11) print 'Method 2: ' print 'Ancestor for 3, 11: ', find_ancestor2(bst.root, 3, 11)