1.12. Filename ExtensionsIn Microsoft Windows and some other operating systems, filenames often have the form name.extension. For example, plain text files have extensions such as .txt. The operating system treats the extension as separate from the filename and has rules about how long it must be, and so forth. Unix doesn't have any special rules about extensions. The dot has no special meaning as a separator, and extensions can be any length. However, a number of programs (especially compilers) make use of extensions to recognize the different types of files they work with. In addition, there are a number of conventions that users have adopted to make clear the contents of their files. For example, you might name a text file containing some design notes notes.txt. Table 1-1 lists some of the filename extensions you might see and a brief description of the programs that recognize them. Table 1-1. Filename extensions that programs expect
In Table 1-2 are some extensions often used by users to signal the contents of a file, but are not actually recognized by the programs themselves. Table 1-2. Filename extensions for user's benefit
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