zip (in linux) is a command-line utility that is used to compress files, the opposite of zip is unzip. Unzip is used to decompress zip files to their original state.
How to use zip
zip is used to compress multiple files
unzip is used to decompress those files
# zip syntax, options are optional
zip <OPTIONS> <TOBEMADEZIPFILE> <FILE1> <FIL2>
##### examples with zip, and parameters
zip -e <toBeMadeZipFile> <FILE1> <FIL2> # encrypt the files
zip -u <toBeMadeZipFile> <FILE1> <FIL2> # update only changed or new files
zip -9 <toBeMadeZipFile> <FILE1> <FIL2> # compress better
zip -q <toBeMadeZipFile> <FILE1> <FIL2> # no output will be generated in the terminal
zip --help # shows all other options zip has to offer.
# unzip syntax, options are optional
unzip <options> <zipefile>
##### examples with unzip, and parameters
unzip -q <zipfile> # decompress without any output generated in the terminal
unzip -o <zipfile> # overwrite files without prompting
unzip -n <zipfile> # never overwrite existing files.ls
zip and unzip examples
# Compress with zip
root@Corrosie:~/test/test# ls
hello.jpeg test1.txt test3.txt
root@Corrosie:~/test/test# zip test test1.txt test3.txt hello.jpeg
adding: test1.txt (stored 0%)
adding: test3.txt (stored 0%)
adding: hello.jpeg (stored 0%)
root@Corrosie:~/python3/test# ls
hello.jpeg test1.txt test3.txt test.zip
root@Corrosie:~/test/test#
# Decompress with unzip
root@Corrosie:~/test/test# rm -rf test1.txt hello.jpeg test3.txt
root@Corrosie:~/test/test# ls
test.zip
root@Corrosie:~/test/test# unzip test.zip
Archive: test.zip
inflating: test1.txt
extracting: test3.txt
extracting: hello.jpeg
root@Corrosie:~/test/test# ls
hello.jpeg test1.txt test3.txt test.zip