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Miloslav Ciz 2024-11-16 22:59:53 +01:00
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compression.md
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@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ Compression means encoding [data](data.md) (such as images or texts) in a differ
{ [LMAO](lmao.md) retard [patents](patent.md) are being granted on impossible compression algorithms, see e.g. http://gailly.net/05533051.html. See also [Sloot Digital Coding System](sloot.md), a miraculous compression algorithm that "could store a whole movie in 8 KB" lol. ~drummyfish }
Let's keep in mind compression is not applied just to files on hard drives, it can also be used e.g. in RAM to utilize it more efficiently.
Let's keep in mind compression is not applied just to files on hard drives, it can also be used e.g. in RAM to utilize it more efficiently. [OpenGL](opengl.md) for instance offers the option to compress textures uploaded to the [GPU](gpu.md) to save space.
Why don't we compress everything? Firstly because compressed data is slow to work with, it requires significant CPU time to compress and decompress data, it's a kind of a space-time tradeoff (we gain more storage space for the cost of CPU time). Compression also [obscures](obscurity.md) data, for example compressed text file will typically no longer be human readable, any code wanting to work with such data will have to include the nontrivial decompression code. Compressed data is also more prone to [corruption](corruption.md) because redundant information (which can help restoring corrupted data) is removed from it -- in fact we sometimes purposefully do the opposite of compression and make our data bigger to protect it from corruption (see e.g. [error correcting](error_correction.md) codes, [RAID](raid.md) etc.). And last but not least, many data can hardly be compressed or are so small it's not even worth it.