baseName

Basename is a term used in computing to denote the final component of a file path, typically the file name itself without any directory components. It is often contrasted with dirname, which refers to the leading directory portion of a path. The concept appears in shell utilities, programming libraries, and path manipulation routines across different platforms.

In Unix-like systems, basename refers to a command that outputs the last component of a path, optionally removing a trailing suffix. The basic form is: basename path [suffix]. For example, basename /usr/local/bin/script.sh yields script.sh, and basename /usr/local/bin/script.sh .sh yields script. If the path ends in a trailing slash, the Bash variant returns the last non-empty component. The suffix argument is used to strip a specific ending from the basename if it matches.

In programming, basename describes the function or method that extracts the final path component from a string. In C, the POSIX basename function is declared in libgen.h and may modify its input; behavior can vary between implementations. In Python, os.path.basename returns the final component of a path, independent of the operating system’s path conventions. Java’s File.getName and similar APIs provide equivalent functionality. Across languages, basename focuses on isolating the file name portion and typically does not remove directory information unless explicitly instructed to handle a suffix.

Practical notes: path handling is platform dependent, and some libraries accept both forward and back slashes. Care should be taken with edge cases such as hidden files, trailing slashes, and root paths. See also dirname for related path-part extraction.