Create BZIP2

BZIP2, short for 'Burrows-Wheeler Block Sort Text Compressor,' is a file compression utility used in Unix and Linux systems. It efficiently reduces file sizes using the BZIP2 compression algorithm, commonly resulting in smaller files with the '.bz2' extension. It is favored for its high compression efficiency and is often used for software distribution and data archiving.

BZIP2 is designed to compress single files and does not serve as a file archiver, which is a software utility used for combining multiple files and directories into a single archive file. BZIP2 is particularly efficient at compressing text data, and decompression is relatively fast.

Below is an example code snippet demonstrating how to use BZIP2 in a programming context. The resulting BZIP2 file must have both the file extension and '.bz2.' This is crucial for later decompressing the file back to a text file:

import bz2

# Path to the input text file and the output compressed BZIP2 file
input_file_path = 'sample.txt'
output_file_path = 'sample.txt.bz2'

# Open the input text file in binary read mode
with open(input_file_path, 'rb') as input_file:
    # Read the contents of the input file
    file_data = input_file.read()

    # Create a new BZIP2 file in binary write mode
    with bz2.BZ2File(output_file_path, 'wb') as bz2_file:
        # Write the contents of the input file to the BZIP2 file
        bz2_file.write(file_data)

print(f"File '{input_file_path}' has been compressed and saved as '{output_file_path}'.")

import bz2

# Path to the input text file and the output compressed BZIP2 file
input_file_path = 'sample.txt'
output_file_path = 'sample.txt.bz2'

# Open the input text file in binary read mode
with open(input_file_path, 'rb') as input_file:
    # Read the contents of the input file
    file_data = input_file.read()

    # Create a new BZIP2 file in binary write mode
    with bz2.BZ2File(output_file_path, 'wb') as bz2_file:
        # Write the contents of the input file to the BZIP2 file
        bz2_file.write(file_data)

print(f"File '{input_file_path}' has been compressed and saved as '{output_file_path}'.")

Explanation of the Code:

1. Import the bz2 Module: This module provides a simple interface to compress or decompress data using the BZIP2 algorithm.

2. Define File Paths: Specify the paths for the input text file and the desired output BZIP2 file.

3. Read Input File:

   • Open the input file in binary read mode ('rb').
   • Read all the data from the file.

4. Create and Write to BZIP2 File:

   • Open a new file with the specified output path in binary write mode ('wb') using bz2.BZ2File.
   • Write the read data into this new BZIP2 compressed file.
5. Completion Message: Print a message indicating the compression process is completed and the file location.

This code snippet demonstrates simple, effective file compression using BZIP2 in Python. Make sure the input file exists and has read permissions before executing this script. This approach is suitable for compressing single files; it is not intended for compressing multiple files or directories.