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Binary files contain formatting information that only certainapplications or processors can understand. While humans can read textfiles, binary files must be run on the appropriate software orprocessor before humans can read them. For example, only MicrosoftWord and certain other word processing programs can interpret theformatting information in a Word document. Executable files, compiledprograms, SAS and SPSS system files, spreadsheets, compressed files,and graphic (image) files are all examples of binary files.
For more, see Wikipedia's Binary file page.
