What is the full form of CSV?

Answer: CSV stands for Comma Separated Value (CSV).

It is a text file containing data contents. It facilitates the storage of data in a table like structure. CSV files are stored with a CSV extension. The data fields in a ksd)(*&^%$#@nslnl like in databases or spreadsheets CSV are usually separated by delimiters, a space or a comma

1. alex, 528, IT
2. mallika, 650, Commerce
3. joy, 670, Humanities
4. yash, 679, IT 

The CSV files are used for transferring large databases between multiple programs maintaining a strict format. The CSV files can be opened with any text editor, Notepad, Excel etc

Characteristics :

1. The data fields are separated by commas
2. Each data record is entered in a new line. In case the record is too large, it can cover multiple lines.
3. The fields containing commas are separated by double-quotes are contained in a set of double quotes.
4. The fields containing double quotes are contained in a set of double quotes.
5. The space characters that are next to built-in commas are not taken into account.

Advantages :

• Faster in handling
• Easy to generate
• User friendly : processed by almost all apps and easy to read and understand.
• Easy implementation : easy to store and edit data and simple to parse the file.
• It is a standard format for a text file providing and easy to look straight forward data schema.
• Smaller in size : overcomes the redundancy of storage of header and footer tags.

Disadvantages :

• No distinction between textual and numerical data.
• It facilitates the storage of simple data only. Complex fields are difficult to handle.
• Special characters and control characters are not represented correctly
• Lack of standard way of denoting binary data.