View source for Chunk (information)

{{Confuse|Thunk}}
A '''chunk''' is a fragment of information which is used in many multimedia [[File format|file formats]], such as [[Portable Network Graphics|PNG]], [[Interchange File Format|IFF]], [[MP3]] and [[Audio Video Interleave|AVI]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://soundfile.sapp.org/doc/WaveFormat/|title=Microsoft WAVE soundfile format|website=soundfile.sapp.org|access-date=2019-03-15}}</ref>
Each chunk contains a [[Header (computing)|header]] which indicates some parameters (e.g. the type of chunk, comments, size etc.). Following the header is a variable area containing data, which is decoded by the program from the parameters in the header.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www-mmsp.ece.mcgill.ca/Documents/AudioFormats/WAVE/Docs/riffmci.pdf|title=AudioFormats/WAVE/Docs}}</ref>
Chunks may also be fragments of information which are downloaded or managed by [[Peer-to-peer|P2P]] programs.
In [[distributed computing]], a chunk is a set of data which is sent to a [[Processor (computing)|processor]] or one of the parts of a computer for processing.
== See also ==
* [[Chunking (computing)]], a procedure for memory allocation or message transmission in computer programming
==References==
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[[Category:Data unit]]
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[[ar:كتلة (معلومات)]]
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