Tree

Updated: 12/29/2023 by Computer Hope

Tree may refer to any of the following:

Tree directory structure

1. A tree or tree structure is a hierarchical data structure that organizes data elements, called nodes, by connecting them with links, called branches. This structure is used to help display large amounts of information in an easy to read format.

For example, the picture shows what a tree structure of each of the directories in the current directory. In the image, C: is the current drive, and the root of the tree. Branching from C: are all of its directories and subdirectories.

Some directories may also have branches. For example, the cdn directory has three other branches (directories). If you wanted to change directories to get into the big directory of cdn, you would first need to move into the cdn directory, and then go into the big directory.

Tree commands

Using a tree command to list directories, or another program capable of displaying trees, may help give you an overview of your disk usage.

  • See our MS-DOS tree command for further information about the MS-DOS and Windows tree command.
  • See our Linux tree command page for further information on the Linux version of this command.

2. With networking, tree describes tree topology.

3. With Adobe Photoshop, Tree is the name of a filter. See our Photoshop Tree page for further information and an example of this filter.

Console tree, Hierarchical file system, Recurse, Software terms