What is ZIP? ZIP is a file format used to archiving files with data compression.
ZIP was created by Phil Katz and released as an open format in 1989.
Some technical notes on ZIP file format:
Each file is archived and compressed separately allowing faster single file retrieval.
The most commonly used compression algorithm in ZIP files is the DEFLATE algorithm developed by Phil Katz.
A large ZIP file can be divided into multiple volumes. This allows a single ZIP file to be stored on multiple
floppy diskettes or other removable media.
ZIP files can be protected by passwords.
Files with non-ASCII character file names can be archived into ZIP files.
ZIP is the file extension for ZIP files.
ZIP files are binary files.
Here are the first 64 bytes of a sample ZIP file dumped in HEX values:
50 4b 03 04 14 00 00 00 08 00 8f b8 24 38 9d aa PK...........8..
4a f1 6c 00 00 00 7e 00 00 00 0c 00 00 00 57 65 J.l...........We
6c 63 6f 6d 65 2e 6a 61 76 61 2b 28 4d ca c9 4c lcome.java..M..L
56 48 ce 49 2c 2e 56 08 4f cd 49 ce cf 4d 55 a8 VH.I..V.O.I..MU.
As you can see, "PK" is the magic number used to identify ZIP files.
"PK" is actually the initials of Phil Katz, the creator of the ZIP format.
