ZIP

Zip is a concept that is used in computing to name certain storage formats, whether physical or virtual. At the software level , zip is used to understand data (text documents, images, programs, etc.) without loss of quality.

The format (whose extension is .zip ) is used by various programs, both commercial and free. Its creator, the programmer Phil Katz (founder of PKWARE ), had to face a lawsuit for the violation of copyright in the development of the format.

The zip uses various compression algorithms and supports an encryption system that is based on a unique key. Critics consider this encryption to be weak and vulnerable to different types of cyber attacks.

Among the methods of understanding used by zip, they are the contraction ( shrinking ), the reduction ( reducing ) and implosion ( imploding ).

Why do some users prefer RAR?

Zip is often compared to rar, and there are various approaches, ranging from simple matters of taste to in-depth analysis to find the best compression method. The files rar are smaller, have less difficulty being divided into several parts and are easier to recover than zip.

These three characteristics of rar files make them more tempting than their competition; however, the .zip extension is much more common. It is correct to say that anyone who uses the internet often has possibly downloaded a zip file once. At first glance, it is a folder that contains one or more files that are treated as a single unit.

There are many programs that are offered in this format, but there are also many others that are presented in rar. While both produce compressed files that are apparently the same, the first difference is that rar requires a special program to be unzipped.

Another aspect in which zip and rar differ is that the latter offers a higher compression rate; in other words, the same file weighs less when converted to rar than to zip. Especially when it comes to multimedia files, rar occupies an average of 10% less than zip.

But the compression rate is not everything. Rar gives its users the ability to split compressed files, which is especially convenient for both storage and distribution. Although documents created by a casual user typically weigh no more than a few megabytes, architects, graphic designers, and filmmakers typically require several gigabytes per project; When making a backup, it is not always possible to contain all the information on a single medium.

On the other hand, rar supports the creation of recovery files, which are very useful in the event that the hard disk suffers some damage. To take advantage of this function, it is simply necessary to create a file with a .rev extension each time compression is performed.

Other meanings

The zip drive, for its part, is a storage peripheral that uses special disks ( zip disks ) as support. Zip disks were released by Iomega in 1994 with a capacity of 100MB. Over time, this capacity expanded to 750MB.

In the United States, finally, it is known as zip code (for Zone Improvement Plan or Plan Improvement Areas ) to the code system used by the Postal Service ( USPS ). These ZIP codes ( ZIP codes ) are written in capital letters and include five numeric digits.