Which file compression tool is specifically noted for its speed and reduces file size?

The file compression tool that is specifically known for its speed and effectiveness in reducing file size is gzip. This utility employs the DEFLATE compression algorithm, which is designed to achieve a good balance between compression speed and the amount of data reduction it achieves.

Gzip is frequently used in the Linux and Unix environments to compress single files, and it is often utilized alongside the tar command to compress entire directories into a single file while keeping the file system structure intact. The main advantage of gzip is its speed, making it an ideal choice when performance is crucial, such as during the archiving of log files or transferring data over a network.

While other compression tools, like bzip2, provide better compression ratios, they tend to be slower, which may not be suitable for scenarios where time efficiency is required. Zip is versatile but also doesn't match the speed characteristics of gzip specifically for file compression. Tar, on its own, does not perform compression, as it is primarily used for file archiving; however, it can be combined with gzip to achieve both archiving and compression.