B+ Tree
A B+ tree is a self-balancing tree data structure commonly used in database and file systems for efficient indexing and range queries. It is a variant of the B-tree where all data is stored in leaf nodes, and internal nodes only contain keys to guide searches. This design allows for faster sequential access and is optimized for systems that read and write large blocks of data, such as disk storage.
Developers should learn B+ trees when working on database systems, file systems, or any application requiring efficient indexing for large datasets, as they provide logarithmic time complexity for search, insert, and delete operations. They are particularly useful in scenarios involving range queries, such as retrieving all records within a specific key range, due to their linked leaf nodes that enable fast sequential traversal. This makes them a foundational concept for optimizing data storage and retrieval in performance-critical systems.