Tree structure

A tree structure showing the possible hierarchical organization of an encyclopedia
The original Encyclopédie (1752) used a tree diagram to show the way in which its subjects were ordered.

A tree structure, tree diagram, or tree model is a way of representing the hierarchical nature of a structure in a graphical form. It is named a "tree structure" because the classic representation resembles a tree, although the chart is generally upside down compared to a biological tree, with the "stem" at the top and the "leaves" at the bottom.

A tree structure is conceptual, and appears in several forms. For a discussion of tree structures in specific fields, see Tree (data structure) for computer science; insofar as it relates to graph theory, see tree (graph theory) or tree (set theory). Other related articles are listed below.


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