PCPlus 259: Algorithm dictionary compression

I write a monthly column for PCPlus, a computer news-views-n-reviews magazine in the UK (actually there are 13 issues a year — there's an Xmas issue as well — so it's a bit more than monthly). The column is called Theory Workshop and appears in the back of every issue. When I signed up, my editor and the magazine were gracious enough to allow me to reprint the articles here after say a year or so. After all, the PDFs do appear on each issue's DVD after a couple of months.

Next up was article 5, on dictionary compression. This one came about because I actually taught my Dad how compression works when he read my book. He didn't know about it before, but now he has an understanding of how computer data can be put in a smaller space.

The article was mostly pure description, some images (the vector ones are mine), pretty quick and easy. This was about the time when I was getting better at using Adobe Illustrator and Mark Miller's points about the use of contrast in conveying information was getting through.

The article first appeared in issue 259, September 2007.

You can download the PDF here.

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