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Scandinavian Workshop on Algorithm Theory

SWAT 1990: SWAT 90 pp 160–172Cite as

Analysis of the expected search cost in skip lists

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Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 447))

Abstract

Skip lists, introduced by W. Pugh, provide an alternative to search trees. The exact value of the expected search cost is derived (in terms of previously studied functions), as well as an asymptotic expression for it. The latter suggests that Pugh's upper bound is fairly tight for the interesting cases.

This research was supported in part by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada under grant No. A-8237, the Information Technology Research Centre of Ontario, and FONDECYT (Chile) under grant 90-1263.

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References

  1. Aragon, C. R., Seidel R. G. “Randomized Search Trees”. Proceedings of the 30th Annual IEEE Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science, Research Triangle Park, NC, Oct. 1989, pp. 540–545.

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  2. Culberson, J., Munro, J. I. “Explaining the Behaviour of Binary Search Trees Under Prolonged Updates: A Model and Simulations”. The Computer Journal, vol. 32, no. 1, Feb. 1989, pp. 68–75.

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  3. Culberson, J., Munro, J. I. “Analysis of the Standard Deletion Algorithms in Exact Fit Domain for Binary Search Trees”. Algorithmica, in press.

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  4. Knuth, D. E. The Art of Computer Programming, Volume 3: Sorting and Searching. Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1973.

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  5. Pugh, W. “Skip Lists: A Probabilistic Alternative to Balanced Trees”. To appear in Communications of the ACM. (Initial version appeared in Lecture Notes in Computer Science, no. 382, Proceedings of the Workshop of Algorithms and Data Structures. Ottawa, Canada, August 1989, pp. 437–449.)

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, University of Waterloo, N2L 3G1, Waterloo, Ont, Canada

    Thomas Papadakis & J. Ian Munro

  2. Departamento de Ciencias de la Computación, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 2777, Santiago, Chile

    Patricio V. Poblete

Authors
  1. Thomas Papadakis
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  2. J. Ian Munro
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  3. Patricio V. Poblete
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Editor information

John R. Gilbert Rolf Karlsson

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© 1990 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Papadakis, T., Munro, J.I., Poblete, P.V. (1990). Analysis of the expected search cost in skip lists. In: Gilbert, J.R., Karlsson, R. (eds) SWAT 90. SWAT 1990. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 447. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-52846-6_86

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-52846-6_86

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-52846-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-47164-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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