What Does Quadtree Mean?
A quadtree is a type of data structure where each original or parent node has four lower-level or subsequent child nodes, where each element is continually split into four pieces. Expressed in mathematical equations or in a visual way, a quadtree has many data analysis applications.
Techopedia Explains Quadtree
The quadtree, visually, often starts with a square spatial field. The field is then split into four smaller, consistent squares, then each of those squares is separated into four, etc. The result can be useful for data modeling. One example is in image handling, where an image can pixelate through a quadtree: first, the four largest squares get color, then the corresponding next-level set of sixteen squares each get their own color, and so on. The result is a clean and consistent way of pixelating an image that may take significant resources to load in a system. Other applications of a quadtree involve state analysis or other kinds of data analysis.
