04/09/2026
Think of it like a grocery list. Instead of writing "Apple, Apple, Apple, Apple, Apple," you just write "5x Apples." That’s Run-Length Encoding (RLE).
Modern .zip files take it a step further—they build a "shorthand dictionary" for the whole list. If "Organic Whole Wheat Bread" appears five times, the computer just remembers it as "1" and saves a massive amount of space. ✂️💎