system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How in the world does zipping a file work? How can a much smaller file still contain all the same information as multiple, larger files?
gpt
Large file:  
    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABBBBBCCCCCCCCCC  
    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAABBBBBBBBBBCCCCCCCCCC

Small file:  
    20A5B10C  
    15A10B10C

If the program (Winzip or 7zip) can interpret the small file’s “code”, it can reproduce the large file at any time just from the small file’s instructions.