private int getSymbol(FileInputStream inFile, HuffmanTree T) throws IOException {
        // COMPLETE THIS FUNCTION
        // ----------------------
        // Private field 'buffer' is a string of "0"s and "1s". If this string is empty you need
        // to read a byte from the input file and convert it into a binary string to be stored in
        // 'buffer' (see function byteToBinary()).
        //
        // You can then get the first bit from the buffer (and remove it) and use it to navigate
        // the Huffman tree, moving to the left or right branch. This process will be repeated
        // until you get to a leaf of the tree and return the corresponding symbol. Note that
        // you may exhaust the buffer in the process and may have to read further bytes from the
        // input file.
        //
        // You can add additional methods if necessary.
        //

        char symbol = traverseTree(inFile, T);

        return int(symbol);     // change this line appropriately (or delete it altogether) when you
                    // complete this method.
    }



    private char traverseTree(FileInputStream inFile, HuffmanTree tree) throws IOException {
        boolean finishedTraversal = false;
        HuffmanTree currentTree = tree;

        while(!finishedTraversal) {
            prepareBuffer(inFile);
            currentTree = nextSubTree(currentTree);
            finishedTraversal = currentTree.isLeaf();
        }

        return currentTree.root().getSymbol();
    }


    private void prepareBuffer(FileInputStream inFile) throws IOException {
        if(buffer == "") {
            buffer = byteToBinary(inFile.read());
        }
    }


    private HuffmanTree nextSubTree(HuffmanTree current) {
        HuffmanTree nextTree;

        if(buffer.charAt(0) == 0) {
            nextTree = current.left();
            buffer = buffer.substring(1);
        }else {
            nextTree = current.right();
            buffer = buffer.substring(1);
        }

        return nextTree;
    }