Stdlib module compression/huffman.vitl

Overview

`compression/huffman.vitl` is a public stdlib surface inside the `compression` family. It should be read as one focused slice of the broader family responsibility: Algorithms and interfaces for compacting data: huffman, lz, deflate, brotli, stats, and shared compression interfaces.

Purpose

This file should be chosen because of responsibility, not because its name “sounds close enough”. Inside the compression family, it carries one focused part of the contract and keeps that responsibility separate from neighboring concerns.

• A report archive can be built in memory, then compressed before emission.
• A transport layer can separate serialization from compression instead of mixing both in one procedure.

Taxonomy

Think of this page as a generated encyclopedia entry rather than a hand-written tutorial. The goal is to show what kind of module this is, how dense it is, and what reading strategy makes sense before depending on it.

• Medium procedure surface: this file groups several related operations behind one namespace.
• Owns domain vocabulary: the module declares data shapes in addition to executable helpers, so its types are part of the contract.
• Minimal top-level dependencies: the module reads as mostly self-contained from its opening declarations.
• Explicit export surface: the file ends with visible export declarations instead of relying only on implicit namespace discovery.

Implementation profile

This profile is inferred directly from the source text. It does not replace reading the file, but it tells you quickly whether the module is mostly declarative, loop-heavy, branch-heavy, or organized around many small exits.

Top-level API inventory

Imported surfaces

This file does not advertise a top-level `use` surface in its opening declarations. That often means it is either self-contained or an aggregation layer.

Position in family

This file is module 5 of 9 in the compression family when ordered by path. By procedure count it ranks 5, and by line count it ranks 6. Those ranks are useful as rough signals of breadth, not as quality judgments.

Declaration map

The declaration map turns raw source into a scan-friendly catalog. It is useful when the file is large enough that a reader wants to orient by kinds of surfaces first.

The table is exhaustive for top-level declarations of the selected kinds. This file declares 20 matching surfaces.

Representative signatures

These signatures are shown in source order so the page keeps the feel of a reference manual, not just a keyword cloud.

• form FrequencyEntry { (line 5)
• form HuffmanManifest { (line 10)
• form HuffmanHealth { (line 16)
• form HuffmanSummary { (line 22)
• proc _slice_text(text: string, start: i32, end: i32) -> string { (line 27)
• proc _strip_prefix(text: string, prefix: string) -> string { (line 41)
• proc encode(data: string) -> string { (line 53)
• proc decode(data: string) -> string { (line 57)
• proc build_frequency_table(data: string) -> [FrequencyEntry] { (line 61)
• proc build_huffman_tree(freq: [FrequencyEntry]) -> string { (line 96)
• proc generate_codes(tree: string) -> [string] { (line 101)
• proc adaptive_huffman_encode(data: string) -> string { (line 105)
• proc adaptive_huffman_decode(data: string) -> string { (line 109)
• proc huffman_version() -> string { (line 113)
• proc huffman_ready() -> bool { (line 117)
• proc huffman_manifest() -> HuffmanManifest { (line 121)
• proc huffman_health() -> HuffmanHealth { (line 129)
• proc huffman_summary() -> HuffmanSummary { (line 137)

The list is intentionally capped here; the source file declares 19 matching signatures in total.

How to use this module

Start by reading the file as an ownership boundary. Ask three questions: what enters this module, what stable types or procedures it exports, and what adjacent module should stay outside of it.

1. Read space and top-level imports first so the ownership boundary of compression/huffman.vitl is explicit.
2. Read declared forms and picks before algorithms so the data vocabulary is stable in your head.
3. Traverse procedures in source order; the early helpers usually explain the naming and numeric conventions used later.
4. Only after that compare neighbor modules, because the right boundary choice matters more than memorizing one helper name.

User example

This example is generated from the actual stdlib module surface. Its job is not to be the smallest snippet possible; its job is to show a realistic consumer-shaped file that exercises the module and mirrors the language keywords the module itself relies on.

space demo/compression_huffman
form UserReport {
  label: string,
  ready: bool
}
proc run_example() -> UserReport {
  let entries = build_frequency_table("sample")
  let ready: bool = huffman_ready()
  let failed: bool = false
  let stable: bool = ready and true
  let idx: int = 0
  let count: int = 0
  while idx < entries.len {
    set count = count + 1
    set idx = idx + 1
  }
  if not ready {
    give UserReport { label: "not-ready", ready: false }
  }
    give UserReport { label: "ok", ready: true }
  let copies: f64 = 1 as f64
}
export run_example

Keyword coverage

This table makes the “all keywords of the module” requirement auditable. It compares the detected Vitte keywords in the source file with the generated consumer example above.

The generated snippet exercises every detected Vitte keyword used by this module.

Source shape

space vitte/stdlib/compression/huffman
export *
form FrequencyEntry {
  symbol: string,
  count: i32
}
form HuffmanManifest {
  name: string,
  version: string,
  ready: bool

The excerpt is not meant to replace the file. It exists to make the module recognizable at first glance, the same way a Wikipedia infobox helps the reader orient before reading the whole article.

Source landmarks

Large files are easier to retain when they have visible landmarks. When the source contains explicit section banners, they are surfaced here; otherwise the first major declarations are used as anchors.

• Line 1: space vitte/stdlib/compression/huffman
• Line 3: export *
• Line 5: form FrequencyEntry {
• Line 10: form HuffmanManifest {
• Line 16: form HuffmanHealth {
• Line 22: form HuffmanSummary {
• Line 27: proc _slice_text(text: string, start: i32, end: i32) -> string {
• Line 41: proc _strip_prefix(text: string, prefix: string) -> string {

Source organization

When a file carries its own internal chaptering, those chapters usually reveal the intended reading order better than a flat symbol list. This section reconstructs that organization from the source itself.

Complete API catalog

This catalog is the exhaustive file-level index for the module. It is intentionally closer to a generated encyclopedia appendix than to a tutorial summary.

Data surfaces

Procedures

Exports

Integration boundaries

Within compression, this file should remain focused. If a future helper changes the host boundary, scheduling boundary, or data-shape boundary, it probably belongs in a neighbor module instead of being added here by convenience.

• Family responsibility: Algorithms and interfaces for compacting data: huffman, lz, deflate, brotli, stats, and shared compression interfaces.
• Family architecture role: Use `compression` when compactness is a first-class requirement and the program must explain which algorithmic boundary owns that transformation.

Composition guidance

Choose this module when

• Choose compression/huffman.vitl when the main question is owned by this module rather than by transport, storage, orchestration, or user-interface code.
• A report archive can be built in memory, then compressed before emission.
• A transport layer can separate serialization from compression instead of mixing both in one procedure.

Pause before extending it when

• Avoid extending this file when the new helper mostly changes the boundary to host I/O, runtime coordination, or foreign integration instead of staying inside compression.
• Check nearby modules such as compression/algorithms.vitl, compression/brotli.vitl, compression/deflate.vitl before adding convenience wrappers here.

Relationship table

This table keeps the page closer to a real encyclopedia entry: a module is easier to understand when compared with its nearest alternatives in the same family.

Neighbor modules

• compression/algorithms.vitl
• compression/brotli.vitl
• compression/deflate.vitl
• compression/interface.vitl
• compression/lz.vitl
• compression/stats.vitl
• compression/tests/smoke.vitl
• compression.vitl