GZ file format
| Extension | .gz |
| Category | archives |
| Description | The .gz file format is an archive format used to compress files for more efficient storage and data transfer. Here's a detailed description of the .gz file format: Files in the .gz format compress data using the Gzip algorithm, allowing for saving disk space and faster downloads from the network. The .gz format is supported by most operating systems and software applications for archiving and unzipping data. This file format is an important tool for data compression and archiving, widely used in various fields where file size and processing efficiency are crucial. |
| Technical details | The GZ file format (GZIP) is an archive format used to compress files using the DEFLATE algorithm. It was introduced as a free software standard to replace the compress data compression format in UNIX. GZ complies with the RFC 1952 standard and uses the DEFLATE algorithm for compression, a combination of LZ77 and Huffman encoding. Compressed GZ files can be extracted using various programs such as GNU gunzip, 7-Zip, WinRAR, and others. The file starts with a 10-byte header containing the magic number (1f 8b), compression method, timestamps, additional flags, and possibly comments, original file name, and a checksum. CRC-32 is used to verify data integrity. The format allows concatenation, enabling multiple GZ archives to be combined into a single file. In theory, it can compress files of any size, but due to limitations of the 32-bit CRC, it is not recommended for files larger than 4 GB. GZ is commonly used to compress TAR files, creating TAR.GZ archives, known as "tarballs". This format is widely used in Linux and Unix-like operating systems for software packaging. |