chunk (information)

{{Confuse|Thunk}}

A chunk is a fragment of information which is used in many multimedia file formats, such as PNG, IFF, MP3 and AVI.{{Cite web|url=http://soundfile.sapp.org/doc/WaveFormat/|title=Microsoft WAVE soundfile format|website=soundfile.sapp.org|access-date=2019-03-15}}

Each chunk contains a header which indicates some parameters (e.g. the type of chunk, comments, size etc.). Following the header is a variable area containing data, which is decoded by the program from the parameters in the header.{{Cite web|url=http://www-mmsp.ece.mcgill.ca/Documents/AudioFormats/WAVE/Docs/riffmci.pdf|title=AudioFormats/WAVE/Docs}}

Chunks may also be fragments of information which are downloaded or managed by P2P programs.

In distributed computing, a chunk is a set of data which is sent to a processor or one of the parts of a computer for processing.