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Validate the Binary Search Tree Property Coding / DSA Interview

Given the root of a binary tree, determine whether it satisfies the binary search tree ordering property across every subtree, not just immediate parent-child pairs.

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1. Problem Statement

You are given the root of a binary tree. Determine whether every subtree satisfies the binary search tree property: every node in a left subtree is less than its ancestor, and every node in a right subtree is greater.

2. Live Coding Format

Work in the provided coding workspace while explaining your decisions to the live interviewer. Validation may use inline tests, examples, comments, or a verbal walkthrough.

3. Key Focus Areas

  • 1
    Problem clarification and contract
  • 2
    Approach exploration and optimality
  • 3
    Think-aloud communication and pacing
  • 4
    Implementation correctness
  • 5
    Code quality and language fluency
  • 6
    Handwritten tests and dry run
  • 7
    Debugging and self-correction
  • 8
    Complexity analysis
  • 9
    Follow-up performance

4. What Strong Candidates Should Demonstrate

  • ✓Clarify the strictness of the ordering property and duplicate-value policy before coding.
  • ✓Explain a naive local-check baseline and improve to a bounded-range recursive traversal.
  • ✓Think aloud while implementing careful recursive range tracking.
  • ✓Validate with explicit expected outputs and a top-to-bottom handwritten dry run.
  • ✓Analyze time and space complexity and handle a bounded follow-up modification.

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Practice this problem in the live coding workspace while the interviewer probes your clarification, implementation, trade-offs, and validation.

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Core Concepts

TreesBinary Search TreesRecursionComplexity Analysis

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