Where did the survey go?
A data team saves every survey result as a file in one big place. After a year there are 9,000 files with names like new1 and final2.
Nobody can find anything. The team then sorts them into folders by year and month. The files are the same, but now they are easy to find.
Key words
| Word | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| File-based storage | Each set of data lives in its own file that a program opens and saves. | sales.csv |
| Directory-based storage | Files are put in folders inside folders, found by a path. | surveys/2026/09/canteen.csv |
| Directory | A folder that holds files and other folders. | surveys |
| Path | The route through folders to a file. | surveys/2026/09 |
| Structure | The way data is organised. | Folders by year |
| CSV | A text file with one record per line and commas between fields. | sales.csv |
| Naming convention | A rule for how files are named. | canteen.csv |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can tell file-based storage from directory-based storage and say when to use each.
Starter: what you already know
Have a go
Starter: what you already know
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
File-based: one file per set
In file-based storage, each set of data lives in its own file. A program opens the file, reads it and saves it back.
It is simple and cheap. It suits one person or one small job, such as a single sales list in a spreadsheet.
It struggles when many people need the same data. Copies drift apart and two people can overwrite each other.
Directory-based: files in folders
In directory-based storage, files go in a directory, a folder. Folders sit inside other folders, and a path names the way to a file.
It keeps related files together and lets you set who may open each folder. It suits a team with many files, such as survey results by year and month.
Worked example: sales lists
| Question | File-based | Directory-based |
|---|---|---|
| Example | sales.csv | data/sales/2026/north.csv |
| Finding a file | Open the one file | Follow the path |
| Good for | One small list | Many files and many people |
| Weakness | Copies drift apart | Needs a naming convention |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Check: which storage?
Have a go
Check: which storage?
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.