gunzip a file in linux

Create a .tar.gz file from a folder:
tar czf /path/to/output/folder/filename.tar.gz /path/to/folder

Extract a .tar.gz file:
gunzip -c /path/to/folder/filename.tar.gz

View a list of all files in a .tar.gz archive:
gunzip -c /path/to/folder/filename.tar.gz | tar -tvf -

Extract a single file from a .tar.gz file:
gunzip -c /path/to/folder/filename.tar.gz | tar -xvf - path/within/archive/filename.php