[boost] [filesystem] "leaf"

From: David Abrahams (dave_at_[hidden])
Date: 2008-05-19 16:37:25

I was just reviewing the filesystem docs and came across "leaf()".  I'm
sure this isn't the first time I've seen it, but this time I picked up a
little semantic dissonance.  Normally we think of "leaf" in the context
of a tree as being a thing with no children.  An interior node like a
directory that has files or other directories in it is usually not
called a "leaf."  I wonder if this is the best possible name?

Is there a precedent we can draw on in some other language/library?  In
python, it's os.path.basename(p).  Perl, php, and the posix basename
command seem to do something similar.

-- 
Dave Abrahams
BoostPro Computing
http://www.boostpro.com