Users of
Linux shell are familiar with pushd & popd commands. But wait a
minute, how does it work? How does it remember the directories which it
traversed. Just a stack functionality right?
As you are aware,
bash does fork+exec on the commands it runs and hence it is impossible
for pushd & popd to store the directory list if spawned afresh. The
solution is none other than the method used by bash for 'cd' command. Yes, the commands 'popd' & 'popd' too nestle within the bash executable ;). Of-course the concept of shared memory can pitch-in but why complicate when there is simpler solution ;)
The experiment as mentioned in my 'cd' post
heramba@heramba-MS-7640 ~ $ which ls
/bin/ls
heramba@heramba-MS-7640 ~ $ which popd
