For example, the IBM 350 disk drives were denominated 'disk files'. In early use, the underlying hardware, rather than the contents stored on it, was denominated a 'file'. In 1952, 'file' denoted, among other things, information stored on punched cards. Electronically it retains figures fed into calculating machines, holds them in storage while it memorizes new ones – speeds intelligent solutions through mazes of mathematics.' Such a 'file' now exists in a 'memory' tube developed at RCA Laboratories. In February 1950, in a Radio Corporation of America (RCA) advertisement in Popular Science magazine describing a new 'memory' vacuum tube it had developed, RCA stated: 'the results of countless computations can be kept 'on file' and taken out again. 'Tables of functions are constructed from their differences with great efficiency, either as printed tables or as a file of punched cards.'

He used it for building a table from successive differences, and for adding large numbers of harmonic terms'. Eckert stated, 'The first extensive use of the early Hollerith Tabulator in astronomy was made by Comrie. In Punched Card Methods in Scientific Computation, W. 'File' was used in the context of computer storage as early as January 1940. The word 'file' derives from the Latin filum ('a thread'). Computer files may be reopened, modified, and copied an arbitrary number of times.įiles are typically organized in a file system, which tracks file locations on the disk and enables user access. Certain files can store multiple data types at once.īy using computer programs, a person can open, read, change, save, and close a computer file. A file may be designed to store an Image, a written message, a video, a computer program, or any wide variety of other kinds of data. Files can be shared with and transferred between computers and mobile devices via removable media, networks, or the Internet.ĭifferent types of computer files are designed for different purposes.

Just as words can be written to paper, so can data be written to a computer file. JSTOR ( June 2009) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)Ī computer file is a computer resource for recording data in a computer storage device, primarily identified by its file name.Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. This article needs additional citations for verification.

File cards for files