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# Data compression

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Data compression is the process of encoding computer data so that it takes less storage space than if the data was not compressed.

Data compression is a fundamental computer science issue.

Compressed data is data that has been passed through a data compression software system.

Uncompressed data is data that has not been passed through a data compression software system.

Fundamental compression methods

- /lossless - no data is lost
- /lossy - some data is irrecoverably lost

Data compression topics:

- /multimedia compression
- /entropy - often cited as data compression [lower bound]?

A very simple data compresson algorithm would be to replace all instances of the string 'this_is_a_long_string' with '514a' in a text file.

Closely allied with data compression is field of [information coding]? and cryptography.

Common Data compression algorithms:

- /Huffman coding
- /LZW
- MP3
- /JPEG
- /Arithmetic coding

The idea of data compression is deeply connected with statistic inference and particularly with the maximum likelihood principle.

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Last edited August 7, 2001 5:17 pm (diff)
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