prefix coding

prefix coding (plural prefix codings)

1. (computing theory) a coding system that uses (typically variable-length) codes that distinguish by their "prefix property", which requires that there is no code word in the system that is a prefix (initial segment) of any other code word in the system.

   This prefix coding uses can use a code with code words {9, 55}, as it has the prefix property. Instead, a code consisting of {9, 5, 59, 55} is not allowed, as "5" is a prefix of "59" and also of "55".

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