What is File Extension?

File extension is basically used to indicate the encoding convention of a file. It is used as a suffix to the name of the file. It won’t be wrong to consider it as a type of metadata as it is used to get the idea of the encoding scheme used for the file. As a result of development in technology, different types of file extensions have been developed to represent different encoding schemes and files.

Another significant result of development in technology is the development of different types of software. A number of software are now available for end-users. Different software are available for performing types of task and a number of software are also available for carrying out the same task. Different software works with different types of files. Developers and software recognize a file with the help of the extension. So, different types of file extensions have been developed to differentiate files.

Music files have .WAV, .MP3, .WMA etc as file extensions whereas video files have .AVI, .MPEG etc as file extensions. Similarly, there are a number of file extensions for images, documents and other things. Also, different variations of a file extension have also been developed. The variations have been developed to enhance the properties of the extension. For an example, the file extension M4A is used to identify the MPEG-4 Audio Layer files. The MPEG-2 audio and video are already known. It’s really difficult for an end-user to remember all the file extensions and the programs associated with them. The computer memory links the extensions and programs appropriately as its very difficult for the user to remember thousands of files extensions. And, when your computer doesn’t have the software required to open the file, file extension unknown is used for the file.

However, the Internet, one of the most significant results of development in technology can be used to get the information regarding different file extensions and programs associated with the. An end-user can use a file extension encyclopedia available on the Internet to get the information about different file extensions.