All the changes mentioned below leave the current names in place as synonyms, so will break no existing code. * Change is_regular() to is_regular_file(). Dave Abrahams and several other people, including me, have found that the name of the is_regular() function is too obscure. It was chosen over is_regular_file() for brevity, but isn't holding up well with experience. The status name is already "regular_file" and the term "regular file" is used by the POSIX standard. * Change leaf() to base_name(). * Change branch() to base_path(). In the long thread '[filesystem] "leaf"', several people found the current names obscure or invoking the wrong metaphor. Many alternative names were discussed, with an eye to making the names more obvious, conforming to names such as "basename" used in other programming languages, and/or using names already in use by the STL. Not breaking existing code was also a major concern, given that "basename" is already used in Boost.Filesystem. The mental model for the new names is that for a path, p: p == p.base_path() / p.base_name() Thus if p == "foo/bar/boo.txt", p.base_path() == "foo/bar", and p.base_name() == "boo.txt". * Change basename() to base_name_prefix(). * Change to extension() to base_name_extension(). This change is to avoid confusion with base_name(). The mental model for the new name is that for a path, p: p.base_name() == base_name_prefix(p) + base_name_extension(p) Thus if p == "foo/bar/boo.txt", base_name_prefix(p) == "boo", and base_name_extension(p) == ".txt". Comments? --Beman