Lempel-Ziv-Welch

(algorithm)

Definition: A compression algorithm that codes strings of characters with codes of a fixed number of bits. Every new string in the input is added to a table until it is full. The codes of existing strings are output instead of the strings.

Also known as LZW compression.

See also algorithm BSTW.

Author: GS

Implementation

Mark Nelson's article with an explanation (C++)

More information

survey of data compression

J. Ziv and A. Lempel, A Universal Algorithm for Sequential Data Compression, IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, May 1977.

Terry Welch, A Technique for High-Performance Data Compression, Computer, June 1984.

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Entry modified 20 April 2022.
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Cite this as:
Gopinath Srinivasan, "Lempel-Ziv-Welch", in Dictionary of Algorithms and Data Structures [online], Paul E. Black, ed. 20 April 2022. (accessed TODAY) Available from: https://www.nist.gov/dads/HTML/lempelZivWelch.html