fichier

Fichier is the French term for a file, the basic unit of information storage used by computer systems to store data under a single name. In practice, a fichier is a named collection of bytes that can contain text, images, software, or any other data.

Files are organized by a file system that provides a hierarchical structure of directories or folders. Each file has a path, a name, and usually an extension that identifies its format. Metadata associated with a fichier includes its size, creation and modification dates, and permissions or access controls.

Common types include text files (.txt, .csv), data files (.json, .xml, .db), image files (.jpg, .png), audio and video (.mp3, .mp4), executable programs (.exe, .bin), and archives (.zip, .tar). Extensions hint at the encoding but are not strictly required; the same content can be stored in different formats.

Typical operations on a fichier are create, open, read, write, rename, move, copy, and delete. File management also involves backup, synchronization, and security practices such as setting permissions and restricting access.

Historically, the concept of a file emerged with early computer storage and organizing systems and has evolved with file systems such as FAT, NTFS, ext2/3/4, and modern distributed file systems. In French computing, fichier is the standard everyday term for any file stored on a device.