Data Compression: The Complete Reference (ISBN 1846286026)

Decent overview of many algorithms:
This book is more about breadth than depth. It explains the workings of pretty much every data and image compression algorithm you've ever heard of. It's not as strong on theory as Bell/Cleary/Witten's _Text Compression_, and doesn't have source code like Nelson's _The Data Compression Book_, but it does a fine job of filling in the space between. If you're not looking for source code or lots of theory, and just want to know what all these dozens of algorithms actually *do*, this would be an appropriate book for you.

Many algorithms included, but no in-depth discussion:
This book explains lots of algorithms, the author tries to give you a brief overview on each of them. However, if you're interested in the concrete ideas and proofs on how the algorithms help you to compress your data, with some mathematical works, the book isn't enough. You'll find it difficult if you want to implement the algorithms by merely reading the book. Some idea are not clearly explained too, say, the the information on Gzip is just a summary of the GNU documentation with no in-depth discussion. Anyway, this book is a great one judging from the (sad) fact that there are not many references on the subject.

A comprehensible but not very profound book:
The book is quite comprehensible also if English is not your mother tongue. Many algorithms are touched on, but often not profound enough to allow programers to implement the methods. Also the subtitle "The Complete Reference" is questionable: I bought the book because I was looking for facts about the Elias-Willems algorithm. In vain!

An undiscovered gem of compression algorithm details:
This book covers a needed middle ground between the more formal books on the subject such as Sayood's "Introduction To Data Compression" and easy programmer-oriented books such as Nelson's "The Data Compression Book". This book is an encyclopedia of compression methods that briefly describes the technique of each method, along with any required math, and then shows the algorithm. Code is not shown in the sense that there are no CompressionAlgorithm.cpp files included that you can lift without knowing what you are doing. However, the algorithm pseudocode is such that you should be able to translate any algorithm into code without much trouble. I know that this book has helped me. I would suggest that any true student of data compression methods use this book in conjunction with Sayood's book. Use Sayood to get the mathematical background that you need. Then use this book to read the details of a particular algorithm in plain language. This book is truly an undiscovered gem for most in the field and I highly recommend it.

Very Complete - No Useless Filler:
This is by far the most all-encompassing and thorough data compression book I have ever come across. Every method covered is carefully explained in great detail leaving no doubt as to how to implement it into your various projects. This is not just some ho-hum discussion of existing software and how to copy the coding of it, as some other texts turn out to be. For once, an author did not clutter his pages of pure compression information with mountains of proprietary source code or over abundant mathematical nonsense. This book is the real deal for true data compression enthusiasts looking to follow along in real world usages and research new methods. If your sole purpose is to draw up a statistical analysis of a particular algorithm, grab your calculator and go someplace else to write your term paper. To copy someone else's source code, search the net. For those of you interested in getting in there and really tackling modern compression methodology and adapting it to whatever your needs and desires may be, this is the only book you will ever need.