From Ukkonen to McCreight and Weiner: A unifying view of linear-time suffix tree construction

We review the linear-time suffix tree constructions by Weiner, McCreight, and Ukkonen. We use the terminology of the most recent algorithm, Ukkonen's on-line construction, to explain its historic predecessors. This reveals relationships much closer than one would expect, since the three algorithms are based on rather different intuitive ideas. Moreover, it completely explains the differences between these algorithms in terms of simplicity, efficiency, and implementation complexity.