B-tree (algorithm) A multi-way balanced tree.
The "B" in B-tree has never been officially defined. It could stand for "balanced" or "Bayer", after one of the original designers of the algorithms and structure. A B-tree is _not_ (necessarily?) a "binary tree". A B+-tree (as used by IBM's VSAM) is a B-tree where the leaves are also linked sequentially, thus allowing both fast random access and sequential access to data. [Knuth's Art of Computer Programming]. [Example algorithm?] Last updated: 2000-01-10