Archive files are single files containing many other files, often in a compressed format, created by archivers. Zip and tarball files are common types of archive files. They are used for ease of sharing and efficiency, and in software development to create a static library of data for a program. Care should be taken when integrating archive files into programs to avoid programming errors.
An archive file is a single file that contains many other files, often in a compressed format. Programs that create these types of files are called archivers. There are a variety of archivers with distinct archive formats, and many of these formats are not interoperable. Some archives and the files they generate are specific to particular operating systems, while others are more portable between operating systems and computer architectures.
Zip (.zip) and tarball (.tar) files are two of the most common types of archive files. Both are compressed archives, each using a different compression method. The two compression methods can be combined to form a zipped tarball (.tgz), which is also quite common. A compressed tarball does not consist of a zip file and a tarball combined; instead, it is a large file that uses both zip and tarball compression methods. When accessing this type of archive file, you must first unpack it as a zip file, then unpack it again as a tarball.
Archive files are commonly used to combine a group of files for ease of sharing or to increase efficiency. Compressed archive files are often attached to emails or sent across networks as an efficient way to share multiple types of data simultaneously. MHTML is an example of this technique and combines all of a web page’s assets, including text, images, sound or other media, into a single file. Sending an MHTML file attached to an email is much more efficient and easier to manage than attaching all the separate files that make up a web page one by one.
In software development, an archive file can be used to create a static library of data for a program, consolidating large groups of related code into a single unit to facilitate integration into larger data networks. The exact type of archive file created for the library, as well as its composition, depends on the computer language used and the architecture of the computer on which it was created. When used in this context, no linking is made between code files within the archive and they remain separate entities, just like any other type of file placed in an archive. Separating the files in a static library of archive files means that link errors may still exist, even if you didn’t see them when you created the library. When using archive files to create libraries, great care should be taken to integrate them correctly into programs, because archive files can neither mask nor correct programming errors.
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