Semi-sorting compression with encoding and decoding tables

A method of compressing and storing data comprising:

• receiving a set of data items;
• identifying suffix data and a prefix for each respective data item in the set of data items based on data content of the respective data item;
• sorting the set of data items based on the prefixes;
• encoding the prefixes by querying multiple encoding tables and summing a plurality of integers therefrom to create a code word containing compressed information representing values of all prefixes for the set of data items;
• storing the suffix data for each of the data items and the code word;
• decompressing the code word to recover the prefixes;
• and
• pairing the recovered prefixes with their respective suffix data.

A tangible nontransitory computer readable medium holding a program product executable by at least one processor to:

• receive a set of data items;
• identify suffix data and a prefix for each respective data item in the set of data items based on data content of the respective data item;
• sort the set of data items based on the prefixes;
• encode the prefixes by querying multiple encoding tables and summing a plurality of integers therefrom to create a code word containing compressed information representing values of all prefixes for the set of data items;
• store the suffix data for each of the data items and the code word in memory;
• decompress the code word to recover the prefixes;
• and
• pair the recovered prefixes with their respective suffix data.