Dictionary Coding
Dictionary coding is a data compression technique that replaces repeated sequences of data with shorter codes or references to entries in a dictionary. It works by building a dictionary of frequently occurring patterns (like strings or bytes) during encoding and using it to compress data by substituting patterns with dictionary indices. This method is widely used in lossless compression algorithms to reduce file sizes efficiently.
Developers should learn dictionary coding when working on data compression, storage optimization, or network transmission to improve performance and reduce costs. It is essential for implementing or understanding compression formats like ZIP, GZIP, or LZ77/LZ78, and is used in scenarios such as file archiving, database indexing, and real-time data streaming where minimizing data size is critical.