The latest articles on DEV Community by Dany Cohen (@torxx666). https://dev.to/torxx666 https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F4208062%2Fef49b78c-a273-4a8f-8ac5-4f51b0bec1cf.jpg https://dev.to/torxx666 en Dany Cohen Mon, 26 Oct 2026 07:47:36 +0000 https://dev.to/torxx666/building-a-compressor-that-competes-on-complete-archive-size-5fee https://dev.to/torxx666/building-a-compressor-that-competes-on-complete-archive-size-5fee <h1> Building a compressor that competes on complete archive size </h1> <p>Compression experiments can look compelling when they report only the transformed file or one favorable sample. I’m building PIZD, a Rust project exploring pattern discovery and structural coding, and I want its comparisons to answer a more practical question: what happens to the complete archive?</p> <h2> Start with a reversible contract </h2> <p>Every candidate has to preserve exact restoration. A smaller output is not useful if decoding changes even one source byte.</p> <h2> Measure the whole result </h2> <p>A transform can add metadata. The relevant comparison includes that overhead and the rest of the archive, not just the part the transform targets.</p> <h2> Make trade-offs visible </h2> <p>Some experimental formats need a current reader, and extra analysis can cost time. Those are part of the result, not footnotes to hide.</p> <p>PIZD is still an unpublished release candidate. I’m sharing the methodology and would welcome feedback on what workloads and baselines should be included next.</p> <p>Project and measurements: <a href="https://pizd.spedo.dev/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://pizd.spedo.dev/index.html</a></p> performance programming rust softwaredevelopment