#865
Medium Algorithms Smallest subtree with all the deepest nodes
Hash Table Tree Depth-First Search Breadth-First Search Binary Tree
77.5% acceptance
Feb 27, 2026
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Given the root of a binary tree, the depth of each node is the shortest distance to the root.
Return the smallest subtree such that it contains all the deepest nodes in the original tree.
A node is called the deepest if it has the largest depth possible among any node in the entire tree.
The subtree of a node is a tree consisting of that node, plus the set of all descendants of that node.
Solution
Rust
Time O(n)
Space O(n)
/*
* Given the root of a binary tree, the depth of each node is the shortest distance to the root.
* Return the smallest subtree such that it contains all the deepest nodes in the original tree.
* A node is called the deepest if it has the largest depth possible among any node in the entire tree.
* The subtree of a node is a tree consisting of that node, plus the set of all descendants of that node.
* Example 1:
* Input: root = [3,5,1,6,2,0,8,null,null,7,4]
* Output: [2,7,4]
* Explanation: We return the node with value 2, colored in yellow in the diagram.
* The nodes coloured in blue are the deepest nodes of the tree.
* Notice that nodes 5, 3 and 2 contain the deepest nodes in the tree but node 2 is the smallest subtree among them, so we return it.
* Example 2:
* Input: root = [1]
* Output: [1]
* Explanation: The root is the deepest node in the tree.
* Example 3:
* Input: root = [0,1,3,null,2]
* Output: [2]
* Explanation: The deepest node in the tree is 2, the valid subtrees are the subtrees of nodes 2, 1 and 0 but the subtree of node 2 is the smallest.
* Constraints:
* The number of nodes in the tree will be in the range [1, 500].
* 0 <= Node.val <= 500
* The values of the nodes in the tree are unique.
* Note: This question is the same as 1123: https://leetcode.com/problems/lowest-common-ancestor-of-deepest-leaves/
*/
use std::rc::Rc;
use std::cell::RefCell;
impl Solution {
pub fn subtree_with_all_deepest(root: Option<Rc<RefCell<TreeNode>>>) -> Option<Rc<RefCell<TreeNode>>> {
fn helper(node: &Option<Rc<RefCell<TreeNode>>>) -> (Option<Rc<RefCell<TreeNode>>>, i32) {
match node {
None => (None, 0),
Some(n) => {
let nb = n.borrow();
let (l_node, l_depth) = helper(&nb.left);
let (r_node, r_depth) = helper(&nb.right);
if l_depth == r_depth {
(Some(Rc::clone(n)), l_depth + 1)
} else if l_depth > r_depth {
(l_node, l_depth + 1)
} else {
(r_node, r_depth + 1)
}
}
}
}
helper(&root).0
}
}