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What a Hierarchical File System Is All About

In a nutshell, a hierarchy is a system organized by graded categorization. A familiar example is the organizational structure of a company, where workers report to supervisors and supervisors report to middle managers. Middle managers, in turn, report to senior managers, and senior managers report to vice-presidents, who report to the president of the company. Graphically, this hierarchy looks as shown in Figure 3.1.

Figure 3.1. A typical organizational hierarchy.

You've doubtless seen this type of illustration before, and you know that a higher position indicates more control. Each position is controlled ...