Python: Which practice avoids a common mistake with Binary Search Trees?

Difficulty:

Medium

Questions:

1

Time Limit:

2 minutes

Passing Score:

100%

Question

Which practice avoids a common mistake with Binary Search Trees?

  1. Do not assume a binary search tree is balanced unless the implementation or problem statement guarantees it.
  2. Ignore the Binary Search Trees issue and rely on team discipline instead of clearer APIs or invariants.
  3. Silence the Binary Search Trees problem by using broad catches, hidden globals, or extra shared mutable state.
  4. Prefer the version of Binary Search Trees that makes behavior less predictable as long as the code still runs.

Hint

Look for the option that protects correctness instead of hiding the problem.

Answer and rationale

Correct answer: A. Do not assume a binary search tree is balanced unless the implementation or problem statement guarantees it.

Do not assume a binary search tree is balanced unless the implementation or problem statement guarantees it. This is a common failure mode in real Python code and a frequent interview follow-up.

Track: Python