Algorithms For Dummies

 

   

  PART 6 

 The Part of Tens

Performing Data Compression

Chapter 14 discusses data compression techniques and uses the kind of compres-

sion that you normally find used for files. However, data compression affects every 

aspect of computing today. For example, most graphics, video, and audio files rely 

on data compression. Without data compression, you couldn’t possibly obtain the 

required level of throughput to make tasks such as streamed movies work.

However,  data  compression  finds  even  more  uses  than  you  might  expect.  Just 

about every Database Management System (DBMS) relies on data compression to 

make data fit in a reasonable amount of space on disk. Cloud computing wouldn’t 

work without data compression because it downloading items from the cloud to 

local machines would take too long. Even web pages often rely on data compres-

sion to get information from one place to another.