2049. Count Nodes With the Highest Score LeetCode Solution
In this guide, you will get 2049. Count Nodes With the Highest Score LeetCode Solution with the best time and space complexity. The solution to Count Nodes With the Highest Score problem is provided in various programming languages like C++, Java, and Python. This will be helpful for you if you are preparing for placements, hackathons, interviews, or practice purposes. The solutions provided here are very easy to follow and include detailed explanations.
Table of Contents
- Problem Statement
- Complexity Analysis
- Count Nodes With the Highest Score solution in C++
- Count Nodes With the Highest Score solution in Java
- Count Nodes With the Highest Score solution in Python
- Additional Resources

Problem Statement of Count Nodes With the Highest Score
There is a binary tree rooted at 0 consisting of n nodes. The nodes are labeled from 0 to n – 1. You are given a 0-indexed integer array parents representing the tree, where parents[i] is the parent of node i. Since node 0 is the root, parents[0] == -1.
Each node has a score. To find the score of a node, consider if the node and the edges connected to it were removed. The tree would become one or more non-empty subtrees. The size of a subtree is the number of the nodes in it. The score of the node is the product of the sizes of all those subtrees.
Return the number of nodes that have the highest score.
Example 1:
Input: parents = [-1,2,0,2,0]
Output: 3
Explanation:
– The score of node 0 is: 3 * 1 = 3
– The score of node 1 is: 4 = 4
– The score of node 2 is: 1 * 1 * 2 = 2
– The score of node 3 is: 4 = 4
– The score of node 4 is: 4 = 4
The highest score is 4, and three nodes (node 1, node 3, and node 4) have the highest score.
Example 2:
Input: parents = [-1,2,0]
Output: 2
Explanation:
– The score of node 0 is: 2 = 2
– The score of node 1 is: 2 = 2
– The score of node 2 is: 1 * 1 = 1
The highest score is 2, and two nodes (node 0 and node 1) have the highest score.
Constraints:
n == parents.length
2 <= n <= 105
parents[0] == -1
0 <= parents[i] <= n – 1 for i != 0
parents represents a valid binary tree.
Complexity Analysis
- Time Complexity: O(n)
- Space Complexity: O(n)
2049. Count Nodes With the Highest Score LeetCode Solution in C++
class Solution {
public:
int countHighestScoreNodes(vector<int>& parents) {
int ans = 0;
vector<vector<int>> tree(parents.size());
for (int i = 0; i < parents.size(); ++i) {
if (parents[i] == -1)
continue;
tree[parents[i]].push_back(i);
}
dfs(tree, 0, 0, ans);
return ans;
}
private:
int dfs(const vector<vector<int>>& tree, int u, long&& maxScore, int& ans) {
int count = 1;
long score = 1;
for (const int v : tree[u]) {
const int childCount = dfs(tree, v, std::move(maxScore), ans);
count += childCount;
score *= childCount;
}
const int aboveCount = tree.size() - count;
score *= max(aboveCount, 1);
if (score > maxScore) {
maxScore = score;
ans = 1;
} else if (score == maxScore) {
++ans;
}
return count;
}
};
/* code provided by PROGIEZ */
2049. Count Nodes With the Highest Score LeetCode Solution in Java
class Solution {
public int countHighestScoreNodes(int[] parents) {
List<Integer>[] tree = new List[parents.length];
for (int i = 0; i < tree.length; ++i)
tree[i] = new ArrayList<>();
for (int i = 0; i < parents.length; ++i) {
if (parents[i] == -1)
continue;
tree[parents[i]].add(i);
}
dfs(tree, 0);
return ans;
}
private int ans = 0;
private long maxScore = 0;
private int dfs(List<Integer>[] tree, int u) {
int count = 1;
long score = 1;
for (final int v : tree[u]) {
final int childCount = dfs(tree, v);
count += childCount;
score *= childCount;
}
final int aboveCount = tree.length - count;
score *= Math.max(aboveCount, 1);
if (score > maxScore) {
maxScore = score;
ans = 1;
} else if (score == maxScore) {
++ans;
}
return count;
}
}
// code provided by PROGIEZ
2049. Count Nodes With the Highest Score LeetCode Solution in Python
class Solution:
def countHighestScoreNodes(self, parents: list[int]) -> int:
tree = [[] for _ in range(len(parents))]
for i, parent in enumerate(parents):
if parent == -1:
continue
tree[parent].append(i)
ans = 0
maxScore = 0
def dfs(u: int) -> int: # Returns node count
nonlocal ans
nonlocal maxScore
count = 1
score = 1
for v in tree[u]:
childCount = dfs(v)
count += childCount
score *= childCount
score *= len(parents) - count or 1
if score > maxScore:
maxScore = score
ans = 1
elif score == maxScore:
ans += 1
return count
dfs(0)
return ans
# code by PROGIEZ
Additional Resources
- Explore all LeetCode problem solutions at Progiez here
- Explore all problems on LeetCode website here
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