Python Data Structures and Algorithms

Testing the heap

Now we just need some code to test the heap. We begin by creating our heap and inserting some data:

    h = Heap()     for i in (4, 8, 7, 2, 9, 10, 5, 1, 3, 6):         h.insert(i) 

We can print the heap list, just to inspect how the elements are ordered. If you redraw this as a tree structure, you should notice that it meets the required properties of a heap:

    print(h.heap) 

Now we will pop off the items, one at a time. Notice how the items come out in a sorted order, from lowest to highest. Also notice how the heap list changes after each pop. It is a good idea to take out a pen and paper and to redraw this list as a tree after each pop, to fully understand how the sink() method works:

    for i in range(10):         n = h.pop()         print(n)  print(h.heap) ...