# Root to leaf path with given sum in binary tree

For a given binary tree and a sum, I have written the following function to check whether there is a root to leaf path in that tree with the given sum.

/*
//A binary tree node
struct Node
{
int data;
struct Node* left, * right;
};
*/

bool hasPathSum(Node *node, int sum)
{
if(!node)
return sum==0;

return ( hasPathSum(node->left,  sum-node->data) ||
hasPathSum(node->right, sum-node->data) );
}


Are there any edge cases in which the code will break? Also, do comment on the code style.

• @JerryCoffin: The sum==0 statement is reached only when node==NULL. Otherwise hasPathSum is recursively called on left and right subtree until it reaches left or right subtree of a leaf node. – Shridhar R Kulkarni Oct 7 '16 at 4:23
• It seems fine to me. – MAG Oct 7 '16 at 4:29
• Oops--I misread. My apologies. – Jerry Coffin Oct 7 '16 at 4:55

• Give your operators some breathing space.

    if (!node) {
return sum == 0;
}

return hasPathSum(node->left,  sum - node->data) ||
hasPathSum(node->right, sum - node->data);


Note that return expression needs no parenthesis.

• sum - node->data seems more natural to be expressed once:

    sum -= node->data;
return hasPathSum(node->left,  sum) ||
hasPathSum(node->right, sum);

• I see no edge cases except possible overflows.

• Thanks, henceforth I will see to it that operators get space to breathe. I see in your code you have omitted the parenthesis in return statement and added braces for if construct. Will you suggest me how do I decide whether to use/omit braces in the code(of course in cases where it is not necessary to use them), whether I should use/omit the parenthesis(again when they are not necessary to be used)? – Shridhar R Kulkarni Oct 8 '16 at 1:00
• @shridharfly It is generally recommended to never omit braces. Parenthesis OTOH are less strict. Use them to emphasize the priority of subexpressions. Parenthesis around an entire expression are never used; particularly with return expression. – vnp Oct 8 '16 at 3:15