File Compression Tool

A lightweight file compression and decompression utility implementing the Huffman encoding algorithm for efficient data compression.

Features

• Compresses text and binary files into optimized compressed format
• Decompresses files back to their exact original state
• Lossless compression using adaptive Huffman encoding
• Cross-platform compatibility
• Multiple implementation options (C++ and Python)

Implementation Options

Python Version

Requirements: Python 3.6 or higher

# Compress a file
python3 script.py <source_file> <compressed_file>
# Example: python3 script.py document.txt document.huff
# Output: Original file size: 1024
#         compressed file size: 512
#         Compression ratio: 50.0

# Decompress a file
python3 script.py -d <compressed_file> <output_file>
# Example: python3 script.py -d document.huff restored_document.txt

C++ Version

Requirements: GCC compiler or equivalent

# Compile the source code
g++ src/main.cpp src/BTree.cpp src/Buffer.cpp -o compression_tool

# Compress a file
./compression_tool -c <input_file> <output_file>
# Output: compression completed successfully!

# Decompress a file
./compression_tool -d <input_file> <output_file>
# Output: decompression completed successfully!

File Structure

├── src_py/
│   ├── script.py          # Main entry point
│   └── hoffman.py         # Huffman encoding implementation
├── src/                   # C++ implementation (legacy)
│   ├── main.cpp
│   ├── BTree.cpp
│   └── Buffer.cpp
└── README.md

Algorithm Details

The tool uses Huffman coding, which:

• Analyzes character frequency in the input file
• Builds an optimal binary tree for encoding
• Assigns shorter codes to more frequent characters
• Achieves better compression ratios for text with repetitive patterns

Supported File Types

• Text files (.txt, .md, .log, etc.)
• Source code files
• Any UTF-8 encoded content
• Binary files