What does ZIP stand for (the compression format, not the postal codes)

algorithm zip history abbreviation acronym
codymanix picture codymanix · May 22, 2010 · Viewed 7.4k times · Source

Does anybody know for what the acronym ZIP stands for which was and is used in programs like PKZIP and GZIP? There is a compression algorithm named Lempel-Ziv-Welch-Algorithm (LZW) maybe the guy named Ziv invented together with other people ZIP?

I cannot find anything about it, maybe its not an abbreviation but instead it just means "to zip files" but I think originally there was more about it..

Answer

nc3b picture nc3b · May 22, 2010

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZIP_%28file_format%29

The name "zip" (meaning "speed") was suggested by Katz's friend, Robert Mahoney. They wanted to imply that their product would be faster than ARC and other compression formats of the time.

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