⊿ Point. {R} Glossary. ◢ Keyword: D. ▰ Sources. 〓 Books [B] ◥ University. {q} PhD. ⏫ THEMES. ⏫ Big Data. [B] Big Data. ⚫ USA. ↂ EndNote. ☝️ BD Dummies. Directory (computing) Files are organized by storing related files in the same directory. In a hierarchical file system (that is, one in which files and directories are organized in a manner that resembles a tree), a directory contained inside another directory is called a subdirectory. The terms parent and child are often used to describe the relationship between a subdirectory and the directory in which it is cataloged, the latter being the parent. The top-most directory in such a filesystem, which does not have a parent of its own, is called the root directory.
Diagram of a hierarchical directory tree. The root directory is here called "MFD", for Master File Directory. Historically, and even on some modern embedded systems, the file systems either had no support for directories at all, or only had a "flat" directory structure, meaning subdirectories were not supported; there were only a group of top-level directories, each containing files. Sample folder icon (from KDE).