Western Governors University (WGU) ICSC2100 C949 Data Structures and Algorithms I Practice Exam

A balanced binary tree is characterized by the property that the height difference between the left and right subtrees of any node is no more than one. This balance condition ensures that the tree remains approximately balanced and prevents it from degenerating into a linear structure, which could lead to inefficient operations such as insertion, deletion, and searching—effectively achieving logarithmic time complexity for these operations rather than linear.

This balance helps maintain efficient performance for algorithms that operate on binary trees, as it ensures that the tree height remains logarithmic relative to the number of nodes, allowing for quick access and modification operations. Thus, option B accurately describes the balance condition that needs to be maintained in a binary tree for it to be considered balanced.

While some of the other options mention characteristics that may apply to different types of trees or specific conditions, they do not fulfill the definition of a balanced binary tree as understood in computer science. For instance, a balanced tree does not require all leaves to be at the same level, nor must each node have exactly two children; these are characteristics that may be confused with complete or full binary trees.