Given a hierarchical joint/bone structure, what is the fastest/best way to access a specific node, e.g. LeftKnee? I take it there is no way to access a node in constant time or am I forgetting something? Would it be possible to create a map that pairs a string name identifier to the JointNode pointer? This seems like a bad idea because now there are two structures, the map and the node tree itself. But otherwise, it would seem that a depth first traversal with string comparison at every step is required every time. Perhaps this isn't so bad since there are relatively few joint nodes, but doesn't this add up if you have a large population of characters being articulated?

If further context is helpful, I'm tracking the location of end effectors, or leaf nodes, and may need to modify a joint node further up the tree via inverse kinematics.