tree-and-branch filing system

The directory filing structure used by computers. The structure can be likened to an upside-down tree, with the root at the top, branching downwards and outwards into sub-directories.

In computing, a filing system where all files are stored within directories, like folders in a filing cabinet. These directories may in turn be stored within further directories. The root directory contains all the other directories and may be thought of as equivalent to the filing cabinet. Another way of picturing the system is as a tree with branches from which grow smaller branches, ending in leaves (individual files).