Database

A lossless audio compression format achieving among the highest compression ratios of any lossless codec, at the cost of CPU intensity and limited compatibility.

The APK file format — Android

APNG is an extension of the PNG format that supports frame-based animation with full 24-bit color and alpha transparency, offering a higher-quality alternative to animated GIF.

The AppImage format — self-contained, distribution-agnostic Linux applications that run without installation, packaging all dependencies in a single executable file.

AVI is Microsoft

AVIF is a next-generation image format based on the AV1 video codec, offering superior compression efficiency with royalty-free licensing, HDR support, and wide color gamut capabilities.

Apache Avro data serialization system — a compact binary format with embedded schema, designed for data exchange, messaging, and long-term storage with schema evolution.

The BLEND file format — Blender

BMP is a simple raster image format that stores pixel data with minimal or no compression, primarily associated with Microsoft Windows and used where uncompressed image data is required.

The Bzip2 compression format — block-sorting compressor using the Burrows-Wheeler transform for higher compression ratios than gzip at the cost of speed.

A plain-text tabular data format where each line represents a row and fields are separated by commas, serving as the universal interchange format for structured data.

DDS (DirectDraw Surface) is a texture container format designed for GPU-ready compressed textures, supporting block compression, mipmaps, cube maps, and texture arrays for real-time 3D graphics.

The DEB package format — Debian and Ubuntu

The DMG disk image format — Apple

DNxHR is Avid

The legacy binary file format used by Microsoft Word from 1997 through 2003, storing rich text documents in OLE2 compound file containers.

The modern Microsoft Word document format based on Open XML, storing text, formatting, images, and other content in a ZIP-compressed package of XML files.

A high-resolution audio encoding using 1-bit sigma-delta modulation at very high sample rates, originally developed for Super Audio CD (SACD) and favored by audiophiles.

The DWG file format — AutoCAD

The DXF file format — AutoCAD

Environment variable configuration files — simple key-value files for storing application secrets and environment-specific settings, loaded at runtime.

EPS is a PostScript-based vector/raster file format historically used for print production and graphic interchange, now largely superseded by PDF and SVG but still encountered in legacy workflows.

The open standard ebook format maintained by the W3C, packaging XHTML content, CSS styling, images, and metadata into a single ZIP archive for reflowable digital reading.

The EXE file format — Windows Portable Executable (PE) format for applications, DLLs, drivers, and services, covering structure, signing, security, and analysis.

OpenEXR is a high dynamic range image format developed by Industrial Light & Magic for visual effects and CGI, supporting 16-bit and 32-bit floating-point pixels, multiple channels, and deep compositing.

The FBX 3D interchange format — Autodesk

An open-source lossless audio compression format that reduces file size by 50-70% while preserving bit-perfect audio fidelity.

FLV is the legacy Flash Video container format that once dominated web video delivery through Adobe Flash Player, now obsolete but still encountered in archives.

GeoJSON geographic data format — a JSON-based format for encoding geographic features with geometry and properties, standardized as RFC 7946.

Animated GIF is the classic bitmap animation format using the GIF89a specification, supporting frame-based animation with palette-limited color and transparency.

GIF is a bitmap image format supporting up to 256 colors per frame, widely known for its animation capabilities and used extensively for short loops, reactions, and simple web graphics.

The glTF and GLB 3D formats — Khronos Group

GraphQL schema definition language and query files — a typed API query language and schema system for defining data graphs and client-driven data fetching.

The GZIP compression format — the ubiquitous single-file compressor built on DEFLATE, essential for tar.gz archives, HTTP content encoding, and Unix/Linux workflows.

Hierarchical Data Format version 5 — a binary file format for storing large-scale numerical data, widely used in scientific computing, machine learning, and simulation.

HEIC/HEIF is a modern image container format using HEVC compression, adopted by Apple as the default photo format on iOS and macOS, offering roughly 50% smaller files than JPEG at equivalent quality.

The foundational markup language of the World Wide Web, defining the structure and content of web pages through elements, attributes, and a document object model.

iCalendar (.ics) event format — the universal standard (RFC 5545) for exchanging calendar events, scheduling, and time-based data between applications.

ICO is the image file format used for icons in Microsoft Windows, containing multiple image sizes and color depths in a single file for display at various resolutions.

INI configuration file format — a simple, flat key-value format organized by sections, used in legacy Windows applications and many Unix-style config files.

The IPA file format — Apple

Jupyter Notebook format (.ipynb) — a JSON-based document format combining live code, equations, visualizations, and narrative text in computational notebooks.

The ISO 9660 disk image format — the standard for optical disc images, OS installation media, and software distribution as mountable virtual discs.

JPEG is the most widely used lossy compressed image format, optimized for photographs and complex images with smooth color gradations.

JavaScript Object Notation — lightweight text-based data interchange format used nearly everywhere in web APIs, config files, and data storage.

JPEG XL is a next-generation image format designed as the universal successor to JPEG, offering superior compression, progressive decode, lossless JPEG recompression, HDR support, and royalty-free licensing.

Apple

A document preparation system and typesetting language built on Donald Knuth

Lottie is a JSON-based vector animation format created by Airbnb that renders After Effects animations natively on web, iOS, and Android at tiny file sizes.

HLS is Apple

An MPEG-4 container format for audio, typically holding AAC or Apple Lossless (ALAC) encoded content, widely used in the Apple ecosystem.

A lightweight plain-text markup language that uses intuitive punctuation-based syntax for formatting, widely used for documentation, README files, notes, and web content.

A protocol and file format that stores musical performance data (notes, timing, velocity) rather than audio, enabling instrument control and music composition.

MKV is an open, flexible multimedia container format that can hold virtually any combination of video, audio, subtitle, and metadata tracks in a single file.

Amazon

MOV is Apple

The most widely adopted lossy audio compression format, balancing file size and audio quality for music distribution and playback.

MP4/M4V MPEG-4 container format supporting H.264/H.265 video, AAC audio, and subtitles — the dominant video format on the modern web and in consumer devices.

MPEG-DASH is the ISO-standard adaptive bitrate streaming protocol using MPD manifests and segmented media, widely used for DRM-protected and cross-platform video delivery.

MessagePack binary serialization — a compact, fast binary format that is like JSON but smaller and faster, used for caching, IPC, and network protocols.