Q11: Maximum Depth of Binary Tree

Calculate the maximum depth (number of nodes along the longest path from root to leaf) of a binary tree recursively.

Tree Maximum Depth (DFS)

function maxDepth(root) {
  if (root === null) return 0;
  const leftDepth = maxDepth(root.left);
  const rightDepth = maxDepth(root.right);
  return Math.max(leftDepth, rightDepth) + 1;
}

💡 Recursively measures the depth of left and right child subtrees and returns the greater depth plus 1 for the current root node.

Key Takeaways

Depth equals 1 + max(depth(left), depth(right)).
Base case for null nodes returns depth 0.

Knowledge Check

What is the worst-case space complexity of recursive maxDepth on a completely skewed tree?

Q11: Maximum Depth of Binary Tree

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