File Formats and Programs to read them.

[Jakeh33t]

All files have a extension such as .exe, .txt, .html, etc... If I wanted to create a file with a unique extension say .example, and build a program to read it, what programming language would be best to make that program? And Could I make that file extension really hard to crack so that you would have to have the program to open?

[tlhintoq]

There is really nothing to 'crack' about a file extension. It exists just to map a document type to a program.

Think about all those .mp3 files you have on your computer. They can be mapped to open with Apple iTunes, or you can map them to Windows Media Player, to MyWidgetJukeBox if you wanted to write a such a program.

Its the file content and structure that determines if another program is capable of opening it or not. How, what and in what order you write your data. How do you encode your data so only you know what it represents? Are all your records of a fixed length? Are they straight ASCII text, or do you convert everything to a weird 13 byte value that has to be looked up in a table in your application? Do you write your application preferences in the datafile, or in their own file?

As for "what language do I use to write this program..." That is a can of worms of epic scale. Ask the Java guys and they will tell you all the virtues of Java. Ask the C++ guys and they will tell you its the best way to go. There is a reason all these different languages exists: They all have their advantages under certain conditions and they all have their followers.

I suggest you treat the search for a programming language as religious comparrison study, or the search for a wife/husband. Check them all out. Read about all the popular ones. Which one strikes a chord for you? Which one seems like it has a future? Which one seems like you can have a future with it? You are going to be spending lots of sleepless nights alone with your programming projects. You will be talking to your computer like its your best friend, then immediately curse it out. Find a language that you think you can have that kind of relationship with.

Just remember - you wouldn't commit to a long-term relationship with a person just because 10 guys said "Oh yeah man, she's the one for you." - Don't pin your next career in programming on what a dozen people here say. Take their recommendations along with all your own research, throw it in a bag, mix it up and see what comes to the top. Then give each language a test drive for a month. What clicks with you? Getting your feet wet in all of them isn't a bad thing.

[RedSon]

All files have a extension such as .exe, .txt, .html, etc... If I wanted to create a file with a unique extension say .example, and build a program to read it, what programming language would be best to make that program? And Could I make that file extension really hard to crack so that you would have to have the program to open?

In essence, you are asking the wrong question. If you want to make your files unable to be read by anything other then your program then just encrypt them.

[NeoPa]

There is really nothing to 'crack' about a file extension. It exists just to map a document type to a program.

...
What clicks with you? Getting your feet wet in all of them isn't a bad thing.

@tlhintoq I think you may have a PM outstanding from 1 October from Frinavale.

Can you please confirm that you have seen it, and possibly respond in one way or the other.

Thank you :)

-NeoPa (Administrator).