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Heaps: SkewHeap

Eugene Lazutkin edited this page Mar 10, 2026 · 6 revisions

Node-based skew heap with efficient merge. Simpler variant of LeftistHeap — unconditionally swaps children during merges instead of tracking rank.

Legend for tables
  • API
    • options - an object with optional properties: less and compare:
      • less(a, b) - a function prototyped as a < b (the default)
      • compare(a, b) - a standard comparison function. If specified, it overrides less.
    • value - the value to be stored in the heap
  • Complexity
    • O - complexity of an operation
    • O(1) - constant time
    • O(n) - linear time proportional to the heap size
    • O(log n) - amortized logarithmic time
    • O(k) - linear time proportional to the argument size

Implementation of SkewHeap.

import SkewHeap from 'list-toolkit/heap/skew-heap.js';

const heap = new SkewHeap();

Class SkewHeapNode

Internal node. Properties: value, left, right. Methods: clear(), clone().

Class SkewHeap

Methods:

Member Return type Description O
constructor(options = null, ...args) this create a new heap
length number the heap's size O(1)
isEmpty truthy/falsy checks if the heap is empty O(1)
top any the heap's top element O(1)
peek() any the heap's top element O(1)
pop() any remove and return the heap's top element O(log n)
push(value) this add an element to the heap O(log n)
pushPop(value) any add an element and remove and return the top element O(log n)
replaceTop(value) any return the top element and add a new element O(log n)
clear() this remove all elements O(1)
merge(...args) this merge other skew heaps into this heap O(k log k)
clone() SkewHeap create a deep copy of the heap O(n)

Notes on properties and methods

Optional options: less (default (a, b) => a < b), compare (standard comparator; if specified, derives less).

...args accepts other SkewHeap instances; source heaps are cleared after merge.

pushPop(value) = push then pop; replaceTop(value) = pop then push. Both more efficient than separate calls.

Static methods

Member Return type Description O
SkewHeap.from(array, options) SkewHeap create a heap from an iterable O(k log k)

Exports

SkewHeap is the default export. SkewHeapNode is exported by name.

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