Burrows-Wheeler transform

(algorithm)

Definition: Rearrange a string so repeated substrings lead to repeated characters in the rearranged string, which is easier to compress. Knowing which character was last in the original string, the original can be reconstructed from the rearranged string.

Also known as BWT.

Aggregate child (... is a part of or used in me.)
sort.

Author: PEB

Implementation

Mark Nelson's great Data Compression with the Burrows-Wheeler Transform (C++) explains the algorithm. Dr. Dobb's Journal, September, 1996.

More information

Wikipedia entry for Burrows-Wheeler transform.

Michael Burrows and David J. Wheeler, A Block-sorting Lossless Data Compression Algorithm, Research Report SRC-124, Digital Equipment Corporation, Palo Alto, California, May 1994.
This transform is algorithm C in the paper.

Go to the Dictionary of Algorithms and Data Structures home page.

If you have suggestions, corrections, or comments, please get in touch with Paul Black.

Entry modified 14 August 2008.
HTML page formatted Mon Feb 2 13:10:39 2015.

Cite this as:
Paul E. Black, "Burrows-Wheeler transform", in Dictionary of Algorithms and Data Structures [online], Vreda Pieterse and Paul E. Black, eds. 14 August 2008. (accessed TODAY) Available from: http://www.nist.gov/dads/HTML/burrowsWheelerTransform.html