Huffman Coding Implementation

This project implements the Huffman coding algorithm for file compression and decompression using C++. It offers a command-line interface to efficiently compress and decompress files.

• Huffman Coding Implementation
  • Features
  • Requirements
  • Building the Project
  • Usage
    • Compressing a File
    • Decompressing a File
  • Running Tests
  • Project Structure
  • Cleaning Up
  • Notes
  • Contributing

Features

• Compression: Compress files using Huffman coding.
• Decompression: Restore files to their original format.
• Cross-Platform: Supports Linux and Windows.
• Modular Code: Well-organized and maintainable codebase.

Requirements

• A C++ compiler (e.g., g++).
• make utility for building the project.
• valgrind for memory leak detection (optional, used in tests).

Building the Project

Run the following command in your terminal:

make

This command generates the executable named main.

Usage

Compressing a File

To compress a file, invoke the program with the C command, specifying the input and output files:

./main C input.txt compressed.huff

• input.txt: File to compress.
• compressed.huff: Compressed output file.

Decompressing a File

To decompress a file, use the D command, followed by the compressed file and the desired output file:

./main D compressed.huff output.txt

• compressed.huff: File to decompress.
• output.txt: Decompressed output file.

Running Tests

The project includes several predefined test cases:

• To compress test file 1:

  make exeC1

• To decompress test file 1:

  make exeD1

• Similar commands exist for test files 2 and 3 (exeC2, exeD2, exeC3, exeD3).

• To run all tests with integrity verification:

  make run-all-tests

  This will compress and decompress all test files, then compare the original and recovered files to ensure data integrity.

Project Structure

• huffman.hpp: Header file containing the definitions for the HuffmanCoder class and related data structures.
• huffman.cpp: Implementation of the HuffmanCoder class, including the compression and decompression algorithms.
• main.cpp: Entry point managing command-line arguments and invoking the appropriate methods.
• Makefile: Build script with test automation support.
• Test Files: input1.txt, input2.txt, and input3.txt for testing compression and decompression.

Cleaning Up

To remove generated object files, executables, and test outputs, run:

make clean

This command deletes:

• All .o files.
• The executable (main).
• Generated .huff files.
• Output text files from decompression.

Notes

• The program operates in binary mode, ensuring proper handling of all file types.
• Compression efficiency depends on the frequency of characters; files with repetitive data typically achieve better compression.
• Files with uniform character distribution might result in larger output files due to overhead from storing the Huffman tree.
• Valgrind is used during testing to detect memory leaks.

Contributing

Feel free to report issues or suggest improvements by opening an issue or submitting a pull request.

To create a zip archive of the project files:

make zip