Leetcode Binary Tree Maximum Path Sum

Given a binary tree, find the maximum path sum.

For this problem, a path is defined as any sequence of nodes from some starting node to any node in the tree along the parent-child connections. The path does not need to go through the root.

For example:
Given the below binary tree,

       1
      / \
     2   3

Return 6.

Difficulty: Hard

Solution: DFS

/**
 * Definition for a binary tree node.
 * public class TreeNode {
 *     int val;
 *     TreeNode left;
 *     TreeNode right;
 *     TreeNode(int x) { val = x; }
 * }
 */
public class Solution {
    int ans = Integer.MIN_VALUE;
    public int helper(TreeNode root){
        ans = Math.max(ans, root.val);
        if(root.left == null && root.right == null){
            return root.val;
        }
        else if(root.left == null){
            int right = helper(root.right);
            ans = Math.max(ans, right);
            if(right < 0) return root.val;
            return right + root.val;
        }
        else if(root.right == null){
            int left = helper(root.left);
            ans = Math.max(ans, left);
            if(left < 0) return root.val;
            return left + root.val;
        }
        else{
            int right = helper(root.right);
            int left = helper(root.left);
            ans = Math.max(ans, right);
            ans = Math.max(ans, left);
            if(right < 0 && left < 0){
                return root.val;
            }
            else if(right < 0){
                ans = Math.max(ans, left + root.val);
                return left + root.val;
            }
            else if(left < 0){
                ans = Math.max(ans, right + root.val);
                return right + root.val;
            }
            else{
                ans = Math.max(ans, right + root.val + left);
                return Math.max(root.val + left, root.val + right);
            }
        }
    }
    public int maxPathSum(TreeNode root) {
        if(root == null) return 0;
        return Math.max(helper(root), ans);
    }
}