Data Cruise

As a Data Analyst, you will be working with several applications to carry out your work and these applications have computer files associated with them.

A computer file helps to record data within computer storage and it is usually identified by its name. The end of the filename which is after the full stop is called the file extension. The file extension shows the file format and the application that owns the file. For example “name.py” py is the file extension and it refers to a python file.

Most times you will be working with database and spreadsheet files. However, some of the data may come in flat files as well e. g text files and CSV files. You must know and use the right application to open these files else you will encounter a lot of bottlenecks.

Here are some of the file extensions you will come across frequently.

1. Executable File Extensions

.apk	Android package file
.bat	Batch file
.bin	Binary file
.cgi	Common Gateway Interface Script
.com	MS-DOS command file
.exe	Executable file
.jar	Java Archive file
.ipynb	Python file
.py	Python file
.wsf	Windows Script File

2. Text File Extensions

.doc and .docx	Microsoft Word file
.odt	OpenOffice Writer document file
.msg	Outlook Mail Message
.pdf	PDF file
.rtf	Rich Text Format File
.tex	A LaTeX document file
.txt	Plain text file
.wks and .wps	Microsoft Works Word Processor Document file
.wpd	WordPerfect document

3. Spreadsheet File Extensions

.ods	OpenOffice Calc spreadsheet file
.xlr	Microsoft Works spreadsheet file
.xls	Microsoft Excel file
.xlsx	Microsoft Excel Open XML spreadsheet file

4. Database File Extensions

.accdb	Access 2007 Database File
.csv	Comma separated value file
.dat	Data file
.db or .dbf	Database file
.log	Log file
.mdb	Microsoft Access database file
.pdb	Program Database
.sav	Save file (e.g. game save file)
.sql	SQL/Structured Query Language database file
.tar	Linux / Unix tarball file archive

5. Presentation Files Extensions

.key	Keynote presentation
.odp	OpenOffice Impress presentation file
.pps	PowerPoint slide show
.ppt	PowerPoint presentation
.pptm	PowerPoint presentation
.pptx	PowerPoint Open XML presentation

6. System Related File Extensions

.bak	Backup file
.cab	Windows Cabinet file
.cfg	Configuration file
.cpl	Windows Control panel file
.cur	Windows cursor file
.dll	DLL file
.dmp	Dump file
.drv	Device driver file
.icns	macOS X icon resource file
.ico	Icon file
.ini	Initialization file
.lnk	Windows shortcut file
.msi	Windows installer package
.sys	Windows system file
.tmp	Temporary file

7. Web File Extensions

.asp and .aspx	Active Server Page file
.cer	Internet security certificate
.cfm	ColdFusion Markup file
.cgi or .pl	Perl script file
.css	Cascading Style Sheet file
.htm and .html	HTML/Hypertext Markup Language file
.js	JavaScript file
.jsp	Java Server Page file
.part	Partially downloaded file
.php	PHP Source Code file
.rss	RSS/Rich Site Summary file
.xhtml	XHTML / Extensible Hypertext Markup Language file

8. Visualization/Image File Extensions

.twb	tableau
.pbix	power bi
.bmp	Bitmap image File
.gif	GIF/Graphical Interchange Format image
.png	PNG / Portable Network Graphic image
.psd	PSD / Adobe Photoshop Document image
.svg	Scalable Vector Graphics file

You can open a file having a file extension that differs from that of the application if the file format is compatible with the application e.g. opening a CSV file with the Microsoft Excel application. Sometimes, you may need to change the file extension to that of the application by renaming the file.