<p>One way to serialize a binary tree is to use <strong>preorder traversal</strong>. When we encounter a non-null node, we record the node&#39;s value. If it is a null node, we record using a sentinel value such as <code>&#39;#&#39;</code>.</p>
<img alt="" src="https://assets.leetcode.com/uploads/2021/03/12/pre-tree.jpg" style="width: 362px; height: 293px;" />
<p>For example, the above binary tree can be serialized to the string <code>&quot;9,3,4,#,#,1,#,#,2,#,6,#,#&quot;</code>, where <code>&#39;#&#39;</code> represents a null node.</p>

<p>Given a string of comma-separated values <code>preorder</code>, return <code>true</code> if it is a correct preorder traversal serialization of a binary tree.</p>

<p>It is <strong>guaranteed</strong> that each comma-separated value in the string must be either an integer or a character <code>&#39;#&#39;</code> representing null pointer.</p>

<p>You may assume that the input format is always valid.</p>

<ul>
	<li>For example, it could never contain two consecutive commas, such as <code>&quot;1,,3&quot;</code>.</li>
</ul>

<p><strong>Note:&nbsp;</strong>You are not allowed to reconstruct the tree.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong class="example">Example 1:</strong></p>
<pre><strong>Input:</strong> preorder = "9,3,4,#,#,1,#,#,2,#,6,#,#"
<strong>Output:</strong> true
</pre><p><strong class="example">Example 2:</strong></p>
<pre><strong>Input:</strong> preorder = "1,#"
<strong>Output:</strong> false
</pre><p><strong class="example">Example 3:</strong></p>
<pre><strong>Input:</strong> preorder = "9,#,#,1"
<strong>Output:</strong> false
</pre>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Constraints:</strong></p>

<ul>
	<li><code>1 &lt;= preorder.length &lt;= 10<sup>4</sup></code></li>
	<li><code>preorder</code> consist of integers in the range <code>[0, 100]</code> and <code>&#39;#&#39;</code> separated by commas <code>&#39;,&#39;</code>.</li>
</ul>

class Solution:
    def isValidSerialization(self, preorder: str) -> bool:
        nodes = preorder.split(',')
        slots = 1  # Start with one slot for the root
        
        for node in nodes:
            slots -= 1  # Every node (whether null or not) consumes one slot
            
            if slots < 0:  # If slots go negative, it means more nodes than slots
                return False
            
            if node != '#':
                slots += 2  # Non-null nodes create two new slots for their children
        
        return slots == 0  # All slots must be exactly used up

# Example usage:
sol = Solution()

# Example 1
preorder = "9,3,4,#,#,1,#,#,2,#,6,#,#"
print(sol.isValidSerialization(preorder))  # Output: true

# Example 2
preorder = "1,#"
print(sol.isValidSerialization(preorder))  # Output: false

# Example 3
preorder = "9,#,#,1"
print(sol.isValidSerialization(preorder))  # Output: false

16500