What are some alternatives to Huffman coding?

What are some alternatives to Huffman coding for data compression?

There are several alternatives to Huffman coding, including Arithmetic coding, Lempel-Ziv-Welch (LZW), and Run-Length Encoding (RLE). Each has its own advantages depending on the data type.

Can you explain how Arithmetic coding works?

Sure! Arithmetic coding encodes data by representing a sequence of symbols as a single number in the range [0, 1). It uses probabilities of the symbols to determine the intervals for encoding.

What are the advantages of using LZW over Huffman coding?

LZW is more efficient for larger datasets and can handle dynamic data better since it builds a dictionary on the fly, while Huffman coding requires a predefined frequency table.

Are there any scenarios where Huffman coding is still preferred?

Yes, Huffman coding is still preferred for smaller datasets or when the symbol frequencies are known in advance, as it can be simpler to implement.