ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Executable compression

Executable compression is like putting your clothes in a vacuum-sealed bag. Imagine you're going on a trip and you have to bring a lot of clothes with you. To save space in your suitcase, you put your clothes in a special bag that sucks all the air out and compresses them. This makes the clothes smaller and easier to pack in your suitcase.

In the same way, executable compression makes computer programs smaller and easier to store and share. It works by taking the code of a program and squeezing it down, kind of like squeezing a balloon. This makes the program smaller and takes up less space on your computer or when it's sent over the internet.

But just like with the clothes in the vacuum-sealed bag, when you want to use the program again, it needs to be "unpacked". This means the compressed code needs to be decompressed or "inflated" back to its original size before you can use it. This takes a little bit of time, but usually not too much.

Overall, executable compression is a cool way to make programs easier to store and share without sacrificing any of their functionality.