121 lines
5 KiB
Markdown
121 lines
5 KiB
Markdown
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LZ4 - Extremely fast compression
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================================
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LZ4 is lossless compression algorithm,
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providing compression speed > 500 MB/s per core,
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scalable with multi-cores CPU.
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It features an extremely fast decoder,
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with speed in multiple GB/s per core,
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typically reaching RAM speed limits on multi-core systems.
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Speed can be tuned dynamically, selecting an "acceleration" factor
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which trades compression ratio for faster speed.
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On the other end, a high compression derivative, LZ4_HC, is also provided,
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trading CPU time for improved compression ratio.
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All versions feature the same decompression speed.
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LZ4 is also compatible with [dictionary compression](https://github.com/facebook/zstd#the-case-for-small-data-compression),
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both at [API](https://github.com/lz4/lz4/blob/v1.8.3/lib/lz4frame.h#L481) and [CLI](https://github.com/lz4/lz4/blob/v1.8.3/programs/lz4.1.md#operation-modifiers) levels.
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It can ingest any input file as dictionary, though only the final 64KB are used.
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This capability can be combined with the [Zstandard Dictionary Builder](https://github.com/facebook/zstd/blob/v1.3.5/programs/zstd.1.md#dictionary-builder),
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in order to drastically improve compression performance on small files.
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LZ4 library is provided as open-source software using BSD 2-Clause license.
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|Branch |Status |
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|------------|---------|
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|dev | [![Build Status][travisDevBadge]][travisLink] [![Build status][AppveyorDevBadge]][AppveyorLink] |
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[travisDevBadge]: https://travis-ci.org/lz4/lz4.svg?branch=dev "Continuous Integration test suite"
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[travisLink]: https://travis-ci.org/lz4/lz4
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[AppveyorDevBadge]: https://ci.appveyor.com/api/projects/status/github/lz4/lz4?branch=dev&svg=true "Windows test suite"
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[AppveyorLink]: https://ci.appveyor.com/project/YannCollet/lz4-1lndh
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Benchmarks
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-------------------------
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The benchmark uses [lzbench], from @inikep
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compiled with GCC v8.2.0 on Linux 64-bits (Ubuntu 4.18.0-17).
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The reference system uses a Core i7-9700K CPU @ 4.9GHz (w/ turbo boost).
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Benchmark evaluates the compression of reference [Silesia Corpus]
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in single-thread mode.
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[lzbench]: https://github.com/inikep/lzbench
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[Silesia Corpus]: http://sun.aei.polsl.pl/~sdeor/index.php?page=silesia
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| Compressor | Ratio | Compression | Decompression |
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| ---------- | ----- | ----------- | ------------- |
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| memcpy | 1.000 | 13700 MB/s | 13700 MB/s |
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|**LZ4 default (v1.9.0)** |**2.101**| **780 MB/s**| **4970 MB/s** |
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| LZO 2.09 | 2.108 | 670 MB/s | 860 MB/s |
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| QuickLZ 1.5.0 | 2.238 | 575 MB/s | 780 MB/s |
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| Snappy 1.1.4 | 2.091 | 565 MB/s | 1950 MB/s |
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| [Zstandard] 1.4.0 -1 | 2.883 | 515 MB/s | 1380 MB/s |
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| LZF v3.6 | 2.073 | 415 MB/s | 910 MB/s |
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| [zlib] deflate 1.2.11 -1| 2.730 | 100 MB/s | 415 MB/s |
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|**LZ4 HC -9 (v1.9.0)** |**2.721**| 41 MB/s | **4900 MB/s** |
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| [zlib] deflate 1.2.11 -6| 3.099 | 36 MB/s | 445 MB/s |
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[zlib]: http://www.zlib.net/
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[Zstandard]: http://www.zstd.net/
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LZ4 is also compatible and optimized for x32 mode,
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for which it provides additional speed performance.
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Installation
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-------------------------
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```
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make
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make install # this command may require root permissions
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```
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LZ4's `Makefile` supports standard [Makefile conventions],
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including [staged installs], [redirection], or [command redefinition].
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It is compatible with parallel builds (`-j#`).
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[Makefile conventions]: https://www.gnu.org/prep/standards/html_node/Makefile-Conventions.html
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[staged installs]: https://www.gnu.org/prep/standards/html_node/DESTDIR.html
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[redirection]: https://www.gnu.org/prep/standards/html_node/Directory-Variables.html
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[command redefinition]: https://www.gnu.org/prep/standards/html_node/Utilities-in-Makefiles.html
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Building LZ4 - Using vcpkg
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You can download and install LZ4 using the [vcpkg](https://github.com/Microsoft/vcpkg) dependency manager:
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git clone https://github.com/Microsoft/vcpkg.git
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cd vcpkg
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./bootstrap-vcpkg.sh
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./vcpkg integrate install
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vcpkg install lz4
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The LZ4 port in vcpkg is kept up to date by Microsoft team members and community contributors. If the version is out of date, please [create an issue or pull request](https://github.com/Microsoft/vcpkg) on the vcpkg repository.
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Documentation
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-------------------------
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The raw LZ4 block compression format is detailed within [lz4_Block_format].
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Arbitrarily long files or data streams are compressed using multiple blocks,
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for streaming requirements. These blocks are organized into a frame,
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defined into [lz4_Frame_format].
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Interoperable versions of LZ4 must also respect the frame format.
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[lz4_Block_format]: doc/lz4_Block_format.md
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[lz4_Frame_format]: doc/lz4_Frame_format.md
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Other source versions
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-------------------------
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Beyond the C reference source,
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many contributors have created versions of lz4 in multiple languages
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(Java, C#, Python, Perl, Ruby, etc.).
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A list of known source ports is maintained on the [LZ4 Homepage].
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[LZ4 Homepage]: http://www.lz4.org
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