Wow. Lots of questions.
What do we assume is in the initial dictionary: Binary digits? Alphanumeric Letters?
I'm not sure I understand this question. The initial dictionary should contain a mapping of ASCII characters to code numbers 0-255.
Do we create the initial dictionary?
Again, I'm not sure how to interpret this. But yes, your compressor and decompressor need to create the same dictionary somehow.
Does the decompressor already have the initial dictionary or do we have to convey it?
You should assume the same initial dictionary for both ends. As suggested in lecture, a good place to start is to have all ASCII characters mapped to their ASCII codes.
Wouldn't the dictionary be better stored in a Vector, rather than a trie, so you just have to go to the right place in the vector and recall the correct "string" of characters?
Are you talking about compression or decompression? For compression, a trie is clearly the better data structure. Of course, a trie is not needed for decompression.
If you can clarify what step you are concerned with (compression or decompression), I think we might be able to provide you with better answers. |