Math - big number from couple of numbers export-able

开发者_开发知识库Let's say I have some numbers, like

5,10,7,8,9,6,2,4,8,5,3,9,78,5,6

I need to send this to another computer, but as the least number of possible bytes. I know what there is a way to do that, I just forgot what it's called and how it works, but generally doing some math with those numbers, getting a big number that, from this number, I'll be able to export the data and get this numbers from this number. Thanks in advance.

EDIT OK so I need to send this text in UDP but I need it as less bits as possible. I'm sending some options, like firstcolor-secondcolor, let's say I have 15 colors. Every color is just number, from 1 to 199, but maybe there is a better way to send this data? thanks.

No one can say which compression scheme is the best for you. We don't have any information about the numbers. But as a first try, you could just write them into a file and use gzip compression on it. Or bzip2, or 7zip.

And only if all these don't help, you should think about doing the compression yourself.

You also didn't tell us your operating systems (source computer, destination computer) and from where you get the data.

[Update, based on the edit in the question:] So basically you want to send some numbers in the range of 1 to 199. This is pretty close to what a single byte can hold.

If it is ok that you use 8 bits per number (meaning you waste 0.4 bits per number), this is trivial but highly depends on the programming language. Here is how it might look like in Java syntax:

ByteBuffer buf = new ByteBuffer();
buf.add(1);
buf.add(199);
buf.add(78);
buf.add(7);

udpSocket.send(buf.toArray());

Get a compression library (like zlib, for example) and feed your numbers in (as an array of integers, for example). This is compressing your data. That same library should allow you to reverse the process and decompress the data at the other end to get your values back out.

If you want to improve your algorithmic knowledge and your requirements are simple and non-critical I'd recommend having a go at writing your own compression/decompression code. If not, grab some code off the shelf - there are loads of good libraries around.