Mind Maps Are Just Trees With Better UX

Every mind map is a tree data structure. The center node is the root. Branches are child nodes. When you build a mind map tool, you are building a tree editor with a radial layout algorithm. The data structure A mind map node: class MindMapNode { constructor ( text , parent = null ) { this . id = crypto . randomUUID (); this . text = text ; this . parent = parent ; this . children = []; this . x = 0 ; this . y = 0 ; } addChild ( text ) { const child = new MindMapNode ( text , this ); this . children . push ( child ); return child ; } } This is a standard n-ary tree. Each node can have any number of children. The root node has no parent. The layout algorithm The challenge in mind map rendering is positioning nodes so they do not overlap. The standard approach is a radial layout: Place the root at the center Divide the available angle (360 degrees) among the root's children Each child's subtree occupies a wedge of the circle Repeat recursively with smaller radii function layoutRadial ( n