What are B+ Trees?

  • B+ tree is a variation of B-tree data structure. In a B+ tree, data pointers are stored only at the
    leaf nodes of the tree. In a B+ tree structure of a leaf node differ
    from the structure of internal nodes.
  • The leaf nodes have an entry for every
    value of the search field, along with a data pointer to the record (or to the
    block that contains this record).
  • The leaf nodes of the B+ tree
    are linked together to provide ordered access on the search field to the
    records.
  • Internal nodes of a B+ tree are
    used to guide the search.
  • Some search field values from the leaf
    nodes are repeated in the internal nodes of the B+ tree.
Also Read: What are B-Trees?

Structure of Internal node

The structure of the internal nodes is
shown below:

Structure of an internal node of B+ tree
  • Each internal node is of the form < P1,
    K1, P2, K2 . . . Pn-1, Kn-1,
    Pn > where Ki is the key and Pi is a tree
    pointer
  • Within each internal node, K1 <
    K2, . . . < Kn-1
  • For all search field value x in the subtree
    pointed at by Pi, we have Ki-1 x <= Ki.
  • Each internal node has at most p tree
    pointers.
  • Each internal node, except the root, has at
    least ⌈(P/2)⌉ tree pointers.

Structure of a leaf node

The structure of a leaf node of a B+ tree
is shown below:

Structure of a leaf node of B+ tree
  • Each leaf node is of the form <<K1,
    P1>, <K2, P2> . . . <Kn-1,
    Pn-1>, Pnext>
  • Within each leaf node, K1 < K2
    . . . < Kn-1.
  • Pi is a data pointer that points to
    the record whose search field value is Ki.
  • Each leaf node has at least ⌈(P/2)⌉ values.
  • All leaf nodes are at the same level.

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