Moving Down to the Left Child Node
Excellent! We've successfully merged the root nodes. Now, it's time to move on to the children nodes, starting with the left child. Just as we merged the root nodes, we'll use the same strategy for the children nodes.
A Step-by-Step Look
Locate the Left Children: Per the current example, let's assume that Tree 1 has a left child with a value of 1, and Tree 2 has a left child with a value of 3.
Merge the Left Children: As with the roots, we sum the values of these left children nodes. (1 + 3 = 4)
Create the Merged Left Child: This sum becomes the value of the new left child node in our merged tree.
Result of the Operation
By following these steps, we end up with a merged tree that has a root node of 4 and a left child node of 4.
The Recursive Nature
What's nice about this process is its inherently recursive nature. Once we've figured out how to merge the root and one set of children nodes, we can apply the same logic to all subsequent layers of the tree. This sets us up perfectly for the coding phase, where recursion will help us elegantly navigate and merge the trees.