Comma-Separated Values — a plain text file format for storing tabular data, with each row on a new line and values separated by commas.
CSV is one of the most widely used data formats because it is simple, human-readable, and supported by virtually every data tool. Each row in a CSV file represents a record; each column is separated by a comma (or sometimes a tab or semicolon).
CSV files are commonly used for open data downloads, data exchange between systems, and spreadsheet imports. Limitations include no support for multiple tables, no data types, and no standard for handling special characters.