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General Computers
Directory - Path - Folder ... What Is It?
SUMMARY: Are there any differences between the terms directory, path, and folder?
Many people use the terms 'directory', 'path', and 'folder' interchangeably, causing confusion for a lot of people.
The term 'directory' is fairly standardized (a named section of a disk/drive that stores data, used for organizational reasons). The word 'folder' means exactly the same as a directory, but is used in Windows, Macintosh, and other GUIs (graphical user interfaces) as folder graphics are used to signify directories (just like a file folder in a file cabinet stores files).
The word 'path' also has been used to mean a 'directory,' and is used because of the ways directories and subdirectories are structured. You tend to follow a 'path' from one directory/folder to one of its subdirectories/subfolders, repeatedly traversing down a directory/folder structure until you find a file.
Note that a 'search path' means something different. For DOS computers, or the DOS prompt inside Windows, when you execute a command at the prompt, it looks inside the current directory/folder for the file and accesses it. If the file is not found, your computer searches through a somewhat preset, somewhat customizable list of other directories/ folders (called a 'search path'), attempting to find your file. Thus, if the file you specified lies in any of the directories referenced by the search path or the current directory/folder, it will be accessed.
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