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# Compression
Compression means encoding [data](data.md) (such as images or texts) in a different way so that the data takes less space (memory) while keeping all the important [information](information.md), or, in plain terms, it usually means "making files smaller". Compression is pretty important so that we can utilize memory or [bandwidth](bandwidth.md) well -- without it our hard drives would be able to store just a handful of videos, internet would be slow as hell due to the gigantic amount of transferred data and our [RAM](ram.md) wouldn't suffice for things we normally do. There are many [algorithms](algorithm.md) for compressing various kinds of data, differing by their complexity, performance, efficiency of compression etc. The reverse process to compression (getting the original data back from the compressed data) is called **decompression**. The ratio of the original data size to compressed data size is called **compression ratio** (the higher, the better). The science of data compression is truly huge and complicated AF, here we'll just mention some very basics. Also watch out: compression algorithms are often a [patent](patent.md) mine field.
Compression means encoding [data](data.md) (such as images or texts) in a different way so that the data takes less space (memory) while keeping all the important [information](information.md), or, in plain terms, it usually means "making files smaller". Compression is pretty important as it helps us utilize memory or [bandwidth](bandwidth.md) well -- without it our hard drives would be able to store just a handful of videos, internet would be slow as hell due to the gigantic amount of transferred data and our [RAM](ram.md) wouldn't suffice for things we normally do. There are many [algorithms](algorithm.md) for compressing various kinds of data, differing by their complexity, performance, efficiency of compression etc. The reverse process to compression (getting the original data back from the compressed data) is called **decompression**. The ratio of the original data size to compressed data size is called **compression ratio** (the higher, the better). The science of data compression is truly huge and complicated AF, here we'll just mention some very basics. Also watch out: compression algorithms are often a [patent](patent.md) mine field.
{ CORRECTION NOTE: Allow me to interject -- I used to have compression ratio defined here as compressed to original, then noticed it's usually defined as a reciprocal of that, corrected it now. There seems to be some general confusion though, some actually define it as "space saved", i.e. *1 - compressed / original*. Doesn't matter that much anyway, but it's probably better to stick to an established convention. ~drummyfish }