HuffmanCompressor

HuffmanCompressor is a Python tool for lossless text compression and decompression using Huffman coding. It assigns shorter binary codes to frequently occurring characters, reducing file size. The program reads a text file, builds a Huffman tree based on character frequencies, generates a prefix-code table, and compresses the text into a binary file with a header for decoding. The decoder reconstructs the original text. Designed for beginners, it supports ASCII text with robust error handling.

Features

• Compresses text files using Huffman coding
• Decompresses back to the original text
• Command-line interface for easy use
• Handles ASCII characters with error checking

Requirements

• Python 3.x

Setup

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/AsifMinar/HuffmanCompressor.git

2. Ensure huffman.py is in the project directory.

Usage

Run the program via the command line:

• Compress: python huffman.py encode input.txt compressed.huff
• Decompress: python huffman.py decode compressed.huff output.txt

Example:

echo "aaabbc" > test.txt
python huffman.py encode test.txt compressed.huff
python huffman.py decode compressed.huff output.txt

Testing

• Create a test.txt with sample text (e.g., "aaabbc").
• Compress and decompress to verify the output matches the input.
• Try with larger files like Les Misérables for real-world testing.

Limitations

• Supports ASCII characters only.
• Small files may result in larger compressed files due to header overhead.