Communication standard protocols are a fundamental part of how computers exchange data. The MIME standard plays a critical role in making computers talk to one another (like in email messaging) by allowing them to understand the type of file being transmitted over. MIME achieves this by explicitly specifying the file type in the header.
What is mime?
MIME stands for Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions. This standard informs your web browser and other web apps what specific kind of file it is working with or processing at the moment. If you choose to send emails with a picture, for instance, MIME is necessary to enable your email client to correctly understand that this content is indeed an image file. It defines the actual file type to the email client.
How does MIME work?
While a file is transferred via the internet, MIME appends additional data, known as a header. These headers fields incorporate essential details regarding the specific kind of file that is being transferred. Having this message body enables various applications such as web browsers and other web apps to process different parts of the file appropriately.
MIME vs. File Extension: difference
File extensions such as .pdf or .jpg are merely components of the full file name that we normally recognize. On the other hand, MIME is one of the communication protocols that various systems utilize to comprehend the actual nature and properties of different content types. Even when the data in a file is recognized as being of a certain type by having an extension, it is the MIME type that tells the browser or application how to correctly process the contents of the file.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Enables opening files in the proper way and format
- Helps email communications systems process attachments
- Supports text and a variety of other file formats and media types
- Works on all devices and software
- Prevents XSS attacks
Cons
- Problems can arise if the MIME type is wrong or improperly configured.
- Some hackers commonly try to trick systems by spoofing MIME types
- Needs to be configured appropriately on the servers
Examples
A few examples of different types of MIME include:
- A plain text file uses text/plain
- A webpage uses text/html which may include text formatting
- A JPEG image utilizes the media type image/jpeg
- A PDF file uses application/pdf
- MP4 video uses video/mp4