compress (software)
Unix shell compression program based on the LZW compression algorithm / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Compress?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
compress is a Unix shell compression program based on the LZW compression algorithm.[1] Compared to gzip's fastest setting, compress is slightly slower at compression, slightly faster at decompression, and has a significantly lower compression ratio.[2] 1.8 MiB of memory is used to compress the Hutter Prize data, slightly more than gzip's slowest setting.[3]
This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2012) |
Original author(s) | Spencer Thomas |
---|---|
Initial release | February 1985; 39 years ago (1985-02) |
Operating system | Unix, Unix-like, IBM i |
Type | Command |
Filename extension |
.Z |
---|---|
Internet media type |
application/x-compress |
Developed by | Spencer Thomas |
Type of format | data compression |
The uncompress utility will restore files to their original state after they have been compressed using the compress utility. If no files are specified, the standard input will be uncompressed to the standard output.
In the upcoming POSIX and Single Unix Specification revision, it is planned that DEFLATE algorithm used in gzip format be supported in those utilities.[4]