8.3. Exponential growth

Normally, the message at this point in the chapter would be to throw what you can at your structure and see what flies. But this time, let’s tread a little more cautiously. If you just start adding zeros to _numChildren and _maxLevels, things will seize up. Instead, try pushing up the numbers more gently. The following pages show images from _numChildren = 4; _maxLevels = 7; (figure 8.6) and _numChildren = 3; maxLevels = 10; (figure 8.7). Already this was nearing the point when my machine was starting to grumble. My amorphous blob was still spinning, but with a little less pizzazz.

Figure 8.6. Turning it up a little: four children, seven levels. I hope you’re coding along so you can see this structure moving.