Exploring the duality between skip lists and binary search trees

Although skip lists were introduced as an alternative to balanced binary search trees (BSTs), we show that the skip list can be interpreted as a type of randomly-balanced BST whose simplicity and elegance is arguably on par with that of today's most popular BST balancing mechanisms. In this paper, we provide a clear, concise description and analysis of the "BST" interpretation of the skip list, and compare it to similar randomized BST balancing mechanisms. In addition, we show that any rotation-based BST balancing mechanism can be implemented in a simple fashion using a skip list.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2007
• Where: ACMSE
• Authors: Brian C. Dean, Zachary H. Jones
• Keywords: ACMSE 2007, Bst Balancing Mechanism, Similar Randomized Bst, Skip List, Theoretical Computer Science