The file is one of the fundamental parts of the computing experience. But what is a “file” anyway? It’s an icon on your desktop, an entry in a list that opens your budget as a spreadsheet, and a name you can give to your latest selfie. At the end of the day, a “file” is a collection of bits (zeroes and ones) arranged in a pattern that some application understands. Developers may keep these patterns secret, which may make users keep a particular program despite alternatives. Other developers may actually encourage adoption of their formats. In some cases you may be able to easily open and interpret...
Read the full article: File Formats 101: Open vs. Closed, Text vs. Binary
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