What Does Binary Large Object Mean?
A binary large object (BLOB) is a data type that can store binary objects or data. Binary large objects are used in databases to store binary data such as images, multimedia files and executable software code.
A binary large object may also be known as a basic large object.
Techopedia Explains Binary Large Object
Binary large objects are primarily used in all database software. Generally, database software classifies binary large objects into two types: semi-structured data and unstructured data. XML files are categorized as semi-structured data, whereas images and multimedia data are unstructured data types. Both of these BLOBs are generally not interpretable by the database.
BLOBs are used mainly for storing pictures, sounds and multimedia files, so they have a comparatively larger size than most data types and can contain up to gigabytes of data. Besides databases, the term BLOB may also refer to a visual image in computer graphics that has a unique shape.
