Visualize Max Heap operations step by step. Watch bubble-up on Insert, sift-down on Extract-Max, and O(1) Peek, with animated tree and array views.
A Max Heap is a complete binary tree where every parent is larger than its children. The maximum element is always at the root, giving O(1) access to the largest value.
Every node satisfies: parent ≥ children. The root always holds the maximum. Same array representation as min heap. Only the comparison flips.
Only the comparison operator flips. Everything else (array layout, bubble-up, sift-down) is identical.
Insert appends and bubbles up comparing with parent (swap if child > parent). Extract-Max swaps root with last, removes old root, then sifts down swapping with the larger child.
Identical complexity to Min Heap. Only the comparison direction differs.
Max Heap is the basis of Heap Sort and finding Top-K largest elements. Insert a number and watch it bubble up, or Extract to see sift-down in action.