Cardinal Directions — Definition

Definition

Cardinal-direction reasoning tracks position and orientation using north, east, south and west. A route can be represented by coordinates, with east-west movements changing one coordinate and north-south movements changing the other.

The final position, the direction a traveller faces and the total distance travelled are separate quantities. Left and right depend on the current facing direction rather than fixed map directions. These problems develop accurate translation of verbal instructions into a diagram.

A solution should identify the requested reference point and output before calculating, so that a correct route is not used to answer a different question.