Why it matters

Splay trees are elegant self-adjusting. Understanding shapes trees.

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The architecture

Splay operation: rotate node to root via zig + zig-zig + zig-zag.

Amortized O(log n) via potential.

Splay tree flowAccess nodesearch or updateSplay to rootzig + zig-zig + zig-zagAmortized O(log n)via potential methodSleator + Tarjan 1985; self-adjusting; competitive with balanced BSTs
Splay trees.
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How it works end to end

Sleator + Tarjan 1985.

No explicit balance.

Working set property.

Foundation for link-cut trees.