What does the name B-tree mean and how is it structured?

A B-tree is a balanced search tree optimized for working with large volumes of data stored on external media (such as on a disk). The name "B-tree" comes from the English "Balanced" or "Bayer" — the surname of one of the inventors.

Main characteristics of a B-tree:

• Each node contains multiple keys and child pointers, which reduces the height of the tree.
• All leaves are at the same level, ensuring balance.
• Nodes have a minimum and maximum number of keys (determined by the degree of the tree).
• Provides efficient search, insertion, and deletion with logarithmic complexity.

Example structure of a B-tree node:

struct BTreeNode {
    keys: array of keys,
    children: array of pointers to child nodes,
    leaf: boolean indicating if node is leaf
}

This structure allows efficient handling of large data volumes, minimizing disk access.