A hierarchical data structure consisting of nodes connected by edges, with one root node at the top and branches extending downward to child nodes. Each node can have multiple children but only one parent (except the root, which has no parent).
The metaphor comes from botanical trees, used in computing since the 1950s because the branching structure resembles an upside-down tree. The terminology (root, branches, leaves, parent, child) all derive from this natural analogy.
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