Huffman code construction
Repeatedly merge the two least-probable source symbols or accumulated nodes, then label the two branches 0 and 1; root-to-leaf labels are codewords.
Key knowledge
Repeatedly merge the two least-probable source symbols or accumulated nodes, then label the two branches 0 and 1; root-to-leaf labels are codewords. This gives minimum expected length among binary prefix codes for a known finite distribution.
Conditions and scope
- The construction here assumes at least two source symbols, yielding nonempty codewords; ties allow several equally optimal codes.
- Symbol-by-symbol prefix optimality does not mean optimality over all block or lossy coding methods.
Sources · 1
References
Sources retain their recorded scope. A source link alone does not establish verification of every statement.
Evidence and review
Lecture 5 section 3 construction and optimal-prefix theorem for a nonsingleton alphabet.
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Entry details
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- university-core.1
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- University core expansion