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Another of the MIME types, this MIME application is for the compression of files. People who dont know what is compression of files, the logic is very easy and simple. When files are huge and big in size they can be compressed, which means they can be reduced is size to a certain extent.
There are various types of file compression, which enables users to compress files. The ZIP is one such file format, which enables data compression and archive format. The ZIP compressed folder contains one or more files that have been compressed to reduce the file size or overall size of all the files.
Technically data compression or source coding, is encoding of information using fewer bits, so that there is reduction in size rather than using and un-encoded representation through use of specific encoding schemes.
Similarly through MIME type, we can also send compressed data over the Internet via email and web browsers. Compressed data only works when both the sender and the receiver have the data compression software. It is important to use data compression in order to save important resources such as hard disk space and transmission bandwidth.
If appropriate data compression is used then only data will be compressed using proper algorithms otherwise data is vulnerable to loss.
MIME Types application/octet-stream
This type of MIME attachment is a binary file, and must contain an application or a document, which will open with a spreadsheet or word processor. If you have ever uploaded something with an octet stream, you will notice the extension coming in the details of the attachment. Such a MIME cannot be opened in an email and you will need some software compatible with the extension type you are using.
Suppose you are using a file with an .exe extension then it can be executed in Windows and is an MS-DOS document. If it is a .doc it can be opened in Microsoft Word and similarly if it is .xls then it can be opened in Microsoft Excel.
If we look at it technically then we can define an Octet as any eight-bit quantity. By definition, octets range in mathematical value from 0 (zero) to 255. Typically in computer networking, an octet is the same as a byte. However, the term "octet" came into existence because historically some computer systems did not represent a byte as eight bits.
So the next time you get an octet MIME, before you download it, please check for viruses and then only open the file.
