Compression of Text in Selected Languages—Efficiency, Volume, and Time Comparison

Abstract

The goal of the research was to study the possibility of using the planned language Esperanto for text compression, and to compare the results of the text compression in Esperanto with the compression in natural languages, represented by Polish and English. The authors performed text compression in the created program in Python using four compression algorithms: zlib, lzma, bz2, and zl4 in four versions of the text: in Polish, English, Esperanto, and Esperanto in x notation (without characters outside ASCII encoding). After creating the compression program, and compressing the proper texts, authors conducted an analysis on the comparison of compression time and the volume of the text before and after compression. The results of the study confirmed the hypothesis, based on which the planned language, Esperanto, gives better text compression results than the natural languages represented by Polish and English. The confirmation by scientific methods that Esperanto is more optimal for text compression is the scientific added value of the paper.