Given a file name, it is nearly trivial to find the i-node
and other information (that is part of the purpose of a
file name, after all). Given an i-node number (and device
number), finding the file name(s) requires searching the
entire file system (once you've determined which file system
from the device number). That is, the mapping is one-way.
And an i-node can have no file name or can have hundreds of
file names.
Why? Because the mapping needs to be efficient in the one
direction but the "need" to go the other direction doesn't
justify the extra overhead and complexity so most file
systems don't implement the other direction.
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tye
(but my friends call me "Tye")