I ended up bowing to convention and using the "walk" terminology - see http://www.jsoftware.com/jwiki/NYCJUG/2009-09-08#GeneralWalkTree - which does not imply a particular direction though is usually done from ancestor to descendant.
On Fri, Oct 23, 2009 at 5:14 AM, Oleg Kobchenko <[email protected]> wrote: > In tree-like structures with a designated root, such as XML, > nodes adjacent to root are called "children" and children > of children and so forth are called "descendants". > > http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/descendant > > 1 : moving or directed downward > 2 : proceeding from an ancestor or source > > In sub-directory navigation, it is the root that you set out for > traversing the structure. > > Climbing would suggest that you are moving from a descendant > to an ancestor, as in "../../..". Ancestor is one of the nodes > from whom a given node descends. > > For example, given a path to a J script you can climb the folder > tree to locate the J installation folder. > > > > > > From: Devon McCormick <[email protected]> > > > > These are good points. However, coming from the APL/J world, I've always > > felt little incentive to observe computer "science" tradition in the > cases > > where it seems backwards, like upside-down trees. At the same time, I'd > > like to strike a balance as it's an ongoing problem with J that we use a > > different vocabulary than most everyone else and this presents a > > non-essential barrier to entry. > > > > So, on the basis of spurning mistaken tradition, I would prefer "climb" > to > > "descend". The word "find" is perhaps too broad though my "climb" is > very > > much like the Unix "find", so that's maybe the way to go. > > > > On Sun, Jul 19, 2009 at 1:47 PM, Zsbán Ambrus wrote: > > > > > ... > > > I think it's called _descending_ a directory tree because computer > > > scientists have their trees upside down. Or just call it find. > > > > > > > However, if we were to handle the sub-directory navigation more > > > > explicitly, this opens up the possibility of being able to specify > either > > > > "depth-first" or "breadth-first" processing of the tree rather than > the > > > > implicit "depth-first" approach of recursion. > > > > > > The term "depth-first" also implies a tree growing downward. > > > > > > Ambrus > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > Devon McCormick, CFA > > ^me^ at acm. > > org is my > > preferred e-mail > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > -- Devon McCormick, CFA ^me^ at acm. org is my preferred e-mail ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
