Source

File: wp-includes/post.php

function get_page_children( $page_id, $pages ) {
	// Build a hash of ID -> children.
	$children = array();
	foreach ( (array) $pages as $page ) {
		$children[ intval( $page->post_parent ) ][] = $page;
	}

	$page_list = array();

	// Start the search by looking at immediate children.
	if ( isset( $children[ $page_id ] ) ) {
		// Always start at the end of the stack in order to preserve original `$pages` order.
		$to_look = array_reverse( $children[ $page_id ] );

		while ( $to_look ) {
			$p           = array_pop( $to_look );
			$page_list[] = $p;
			if ( isset( $children[ $p->ID ] ) ) {
				foreach ( array_reverse( $children[ $p->ID ] ) as $child ) {
					// Append to the `$to_look` stack to descend the tree.
					$to_look[] = $child;
				}
			}
		}
	}

	return $page_list;
}