ABSTRACT
Careful file management is crucial for reproducible research. File management is important for researcher, because if their files are well organized they will be able to more easily make changes, benefit from work they have already done, and collaborate with others. This chapter discusses how a reproducible research project may be organized and cover the basics of file path naming conventions in Unix-like operating systems, such as Mac OS X and Linux, as well as Windows. On Windows computers separate subdirectories are indicated with a back slash. On Unix-like systems, including Mac computers, directories are indicated with a forward slash. The file path of the Data file on a Unix-like system would be: /ExampleProject/Data. Spaces in file and directory names can sometimes create problems for computer programs trying to read the file path. A root directory is the first level in a disk, such as a hard drive. It is the root out of which the file tree ‘grows’.
