Compressing files in Node.js with zlib reduces file sizes for storage optimization, bandwidth efficiency, and improved application performance. With over 25 years of experience in software development and as the creator of CoreUI, I’ve implemented file compression extensively in data archival systems, web optimization, and storage management applications. From my expertise, the most effective approach is using zlib compression streams with proper error handling and pipeline management for robust file processing. This pattern enables efficient compression of large files without overwhelming system memory or blocking the event loop.