A CSV file is a type of delimited text file that uses commas to separate values, with each line of the file being one data record. A record can have multiple fields, which are also separated by commas. Usually, a CSV files stores tabular data (numbers and text) in plain text form, meaning each line will include the same number of fields. **Extension:** `.csv` ## CSV Advantages - Human readable/writeable - Widely used/supported by most applications - Can be read in a memory efficient way ## CSV Disadvantages - Data is uncompressed - Does not support binary data - Unquoted fields can easily "break" the format if they contain the delimiter - Lack of support for metadata %% wiki footer: Please don't edit anything below this line %% ## This note in GitHub <span class="git-footer">[Edit In GitHub](https://github.dev/data-engineering-community/data-engineering-wiki/blob/main/Tools/File%20Formats/CSV.md "git-hub-edit-note") | [Copy this note](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/data-engineering-community/data-engineering-wiki/main/Tools/File%20Formats/CSV.md "git-hub-copy-note")</span> <span class="git-footer">Was this page helpful? [👍](https://tally.so/r/mOaxjk?rating=Yes&url=https://dataengineering.wiki/Tools/File%20Formats/CSV) or [👎](https://tally.so/r/mOaxjk?rating=No&url=https://dataengineering.wiki/Tools/File%20Formats/CSV)</span>