Binary Heap
A binary heap is a complete binary tree data structure that satisfies the heap property, where each parent node is either greater than or equal to (max-heap) or less than or equal to (min-heap) its children. It is commonly implemented as an array for efficient memory usage and operations. Binary heaps are fundamental for implementing priority queues and are used in algorithms like heap sort and Dijkstra's algorithm.
Developers should learn binary heaps when working on applications requiring efficient priority-based operations, such as task scheduling, graph algorithms (e.g., shortest path), or real-time systems. They are essential for optimizing performance in scenarios where frequent insertions and deletions of the highest or lowest priority elements are needed, offering O(log n) time complexity for these operations.