Where the rest of 100MB file is being kept when it is compressed into 80MB zip file?
In: Engineering
File compression is somewhat confusing in how it works, and I only know of one particular algorithm, so I’m going to explain that.
Files at a very base levels just consist of ones and zeros, aka binary. Because there are only two values that makes pattern detection easy. The weakest lossless, meaning no data is lost, algorithm is based on finding a pattern and then compressing it down. So where there was data telling the computer about the file there is now some basic code, a number that says how many times that pattern was repeated and then the first part of the pattern. Rinse and repeat until the file is compressed.
There are other algorithms, all better than the simple pattern compression, but those are very complicated and as I said, I don’t really know how they work.
Source: programming experience.
Latest Answers