What is a binary tree and how is it different from a general tree?

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What is a binary tree and how is it different from a general tree?

A binary tree is a type of tree data structure in which each node has at most two children, referred to as the left child and the right child. The binary tree follows a hierarchical structure, where each node can have zero, one, or two children. The left child is always less than or equal to the parent node, while the right child is always greater than the parent node. This property is known as the binary search tree property.

On the other hand, a general tree is a tree data structure where each node can have any number of children. Unlike a binary tree, there is no specific ordering or relationship between the children of a node in a general tree. Each child node is connected to its parent node, but there is no specific order or hierarchy among the children.

In summary, the main difference between a binary tree and a general tree lies in the number of children each node can have and the ordering of those children. A binary tree can have at most two children and follows a specific ordering based on the binary search tree property, while a general tree can have any number of children and does not have a specific ordering among them.