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Zip File Streams
Classes ZipInputStream & ZipEntry
Class ZipFile
Jar File Streams
Classes JarFile and JarEntry

ZIP files and JAR files are very useful, and are heavily used in Java. 

For example, in JDK 1.5, the code for the Java class library may be found in a ZIP file src.zip (in the top level directory for the JDK installation). 

When loading a Java program (application or applet), it is more efficient to load from a ZIP or JAR file -- only one file needs to be opened and read, rather than many different .class files. When downloading an applet from the web, especially, using a ZIP or JAR file can have a considerable impact on performance.

So it stands to reason that Java contains a number of classes that are used to read and write ZIP and JAR files.  Here's how you can do this yourself...