Format

/ˌfæt ˈsɪksˌtiːn/

noun — "legacy File Allocation Table filesystem."

FAT16, short for File Allocation Table 16, is a legacy filesystem that organizes data on block-based storage devices using a 16-bit cluster addressing scheme. It was widely used in early personal computers and embedded devices due to its simplicity, low overhead, and compatibility across operating systems and firmware environments.

/ˌfæt θɜːrtiˈtuː/

noun — "widely compatible file allocation table filesystem."

FAT32, short for File Allocation Table 32, is a disk filesystem designed to organize, store, and retrieve files on block-based storage devices using a table-driven allocation model. It represents an evolution of earlier FAT variants and is defined by its use of 32-bit cluster addressing, allowing larger volumes and files than its predecessors while maintaining broad hardware and software compatibility.

/ˈfaɪl ˌsɪstəm/

noun — "organizes storage for data access."

FileSystem is a software and data structure layer that manages how data is stored, retrieved, and organized on storage devices such as hard drives, SSDs, or networked storage. It provides a logical interface for users and applications to interact with files and directories while translating these operations into the physical layout on the storage medium. A file system determines how files are named, how metadata is maintained, how storage space is allocated, and how access permissions are enforced.

/ˌɛn.tiːˈɛfˈɛs/

noun — "robust Windows file system."

NTFS, short for New Technology File System, is a proprietary file system developed by Microsoft for Windows operating systems to provide high reliability, scalability, and advanced features beyond those of FAT and FAT32. NTFS organizes data on storage devices using a structured format that supports large files, large volumes, permissions, metadata, and transactional integrity, making it suitable for modern computing environments including desktops, servers, and enterprise storage systems.

/ˈvɪdi.oʊ ˈkoʊdɛk/

noun — "algorithm for compressing and decompressing digital video."

Video Codec is a software or hardware component that encodes (compresses) and decodes (decompresses) digital video streams. The primary purpose of a video codec is to reduce the size of video data for storage or transmission while preserving acceptable visual quality. Compression is typically lossy, meaning some information is discarded to achieve higher efficiency, though some codecs support lossless compression for specialized applications.

/ˌbiː viː ˈeɪtʃ/

n. "Tree-structured spatial index organizing primitives within nested bounding volumes accelerating ray-primitive intersection unlike flat triangle lists."

/ˌsiː-ɛs-ˈviː/

n. “Plain text pretending to be a spreadsheet.”

CSV, or Comma-Separated Values, is a simple text-based file format used to store tabular data. Each line represents a row, and each value within that row is separated by a delimiter — most commonly a comma. Despite its minimalism, CSV is one of the most widely used data interchange formats in computing.

/maɪm/

n. “This isn’t just data — it’s what the data means.”

MIME, short for Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions, is the system that tells computers what kind of data they are looking at and how it should be handled. It answers a deceptively simple question: what is this content supposed to be?