Binary Tree Maximum Depth Finder
Problem Description
Given the root of a binary tree, determine its **maximum depth** — the number of nodes along the longest path from the root down to the farthest leaf node.
A leaf is a node with no children.
**Example 1:**
```
5
/ \
3 8
/ \
1 4
```
Input: root = [5,3,8,1,4]
Output: 3
Explanation: The longest path is 5 → 3 → 1 (or 5 → 3 → 4), which has 3 nodes.
**Example 2:**
```
7
\
2
\
9
```
Input: root = [7,null,2,null,9]
Output: 3
Explanation: The only path is 7 → 2 → 9, which has depth 3.
Constraints
- The number of nodes in the tree is in the range [0, 10^4].
- Node values are integers in the range [-100, 100].
- A null root represents an empty tree and has depth 0.
Follow-up
Can you solve this iteratively using a queue (BFS) instead of recursion, avoiding stack overflow for very deep trees?
Hints
Try the problem first. If you get stuck, you can reveal hints one at a time.
Solution
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