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Zip technology
is one of the most widely used kinds of file compression. A ZIP file format is a
file compression that contains one or more files which are compressed.
The file
compression reduces the size of the original file into smaller one. Later, if we
want our computer read or run the compressed file we need to decompress them by
unzipping it. This decompression process extracts the compressed files and returns
them to their original size and format.
Benefits
of zipping:
(a) We can save
more space in our computer for storing more files.
(b) The compressed
files take less time for transferring over the internet.
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(c) We can send
collection of all related files in a single transfer.
Using
zipping technique, the programs can be reduced to up to 10 percent and the text
files can be compressed to one-fifth of their actual size.
We have to choose a good
zipping tool for our files. Otherwise with the result of some data lost, we may
loose some of the quality of our files.
Examples of techniques
of compression:
WinZip
is a Windows-based program which can be used to zip and unzip files. Zip files are
stored with extension .zip.
Zipping using WinZip:
Go to
Windows Explorer-> select the files to be zipped-> Right Click->select
to “Add to Zip”.
Unzipping
using WinZip:
Select
that compressed file -> Right click -> Select Extract to and give the path
where the file has to be extracted.
Example of Zipping software is SnapZip, advanced Zip Compression Software which
costs around $20.
Stuffit
is another example of zipping software which is used for Macintosh. Here files are
saved with .sit extension.
Self extracting
files:
Self
extracting files can have built-in programs which can extract the archives without
using decompression techniques. Zipping is great for archiving important files or
documents which we don’t use often.
Examples:
Windows-
files in .exe format.
Macintosh-
files in .sea format.
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