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Reference.org
Move-to-front transform
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<p>The move-to-front (MTF) transform is an <a href="/facts/Code/CSntvnEo">encoding</a> of <a href="/facts/Data/AUBFN97o">data</a> (typically a stream of <a href="/facts/Byte/BNHUp9Qq">bytes</a>) designed to improve the performance of <a href="/facts/Entropy_encoding/44I0n8F8">entropy encoding</a> techniques of <a href="/facts/Data_compression/gMFuY4FT">compression</a>. When efficiently implemented, it is fast enough that its benefits usually justify including it as an extra step in data compression <a href="/facts/Algorithm/fnl5NmRt">algorithm</a>. </p><p>This algorithm was first published by Boris Ryabko under the name of "book stack" in 1980. Subsequently, it was rediscovered by J.K. Bentley et al. in 1986, as attested in the explanatory note. </p>