Zstandard Algorithm

Zstandard is a lossless data compression algorithm designed to compress about as tightly as the long-established DEFLATE algorithm while running considerably faster, particularly when decompressing. It combines LZ77-style dictionary matching over a large search window with fast entropy coding, using both Huffman coding and a newer technique called finite state entropy, and it offers a wide range of compression levels, from fast and light at one end to slow and maximally compact at the other, while keeping decompression speed nearly constant across every level. Yann Collet developed Zstandard at Facebook and released the open source reference implementation, called zstd, on August 31, 2016; the algorithm was later formally documented as RFC 8478 in 2018. Its combination of speed and compression ratio has made it a popular replacement for older formats in situations that need fast, repeated compression and decompression of large amounts of data.