Heap Data Structure Intuition

Min-heap: smallest at root; heapify repairs one violation downward.

Try this in Python

import heapq

h = [5, 1, 3]
heapq.heapify(h)
print(h[0], h)

Key takeaways

• heapq is min-heap; max-heap via negated keys.
• heappushpop saves comparisons in hot loops.
• Ties arbitrary—do not rely on sibling order.