•A 2-3-4 tree solves
this problem
–a node can either be a
leaf or,
–if it has 1 data item
there are 2 children,
–2 data items has 3
children, and
–3 data items has 4
children
•A 2-3-4 tree remains
perfectly balanced
–but its insertion
algorithm splits the nodes as it traverses down
the tree toward a leaf, rather than upon the
return to the root
