CD

CD, or Compact Disc, is a type of digital optical disc data storage format, developed in the early 1980s. It was designed to store audio data, and was later adapted to store computer programs and other types of data. The disc has a diameter of 120mm and is composed of a polycarbonate plastic substrate, onto which user-defined areas of data are written. It has a capacity of up to 700 megabytes of data either in an unmixed (CD-ROM, CD-R) or mixed (CD-RW) format.

CDs are still used as a common storage device today and have been adapted to various applications such as storing music, videos, photos, software, and other files. CDs can come in many varieties such as normal, read-only, write-once, write-many, mini, and DVD-ROM.

CDs have a wide range of uses for computers and programming, mostly pertaining to installation of software and updates. CD drives, as well as DVD and Blu-ray drives, are often included in computer hardware.

Due to the nature of the data storage used on CDs, as well as their popularity, CD’s are at the highest risk for malware and copyright infringement, and require special software and security measures to be taken. Data on CDs should only be trusted when it’s from authentic sources, as malicious versions of CDs can be made through a process known as “burning”.