Sequence of bytes used to identify or indicate the format of a file
In computer programming, a magic number is any of the following:
- A unique value with unexplained meaning or multiple occurrences which could (preferably) be replaced with a named constant
- A constant numerical or text value used to identify a file format or protocol (for files, see List of file signatures)
- A distinctive unique value that is unlikely to be mistaken for other meanings (e.g., Globally Unique Identifiers)