Examples Overview

The examples/ directory contains complete, standalone example programs demonstrating real-world compression patterns with snappy.zig on Zig 0.17.0.

Every example is self-contained, adheres to the official Google Snappy format specification, and can be compiled and executed directly using the Zig build system.

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Running the Examples

# Run a specific example
zig build run-basic_compression
zig build run-caller_buffer
zig build run-reusable_context
zig build run-streaming_compression
zig build run-streaming_decompression
zig build run-io_pipeline
zig build run-error_handling
zig build run-format_introspection
zig build run-bit_level
zig build run-compress_file
zig build run-decompress_file

# Run all registered examples sequentially
zig build run-all-examples

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Example Directory

Example	File	Command	Description
Basic Compression	examples/basic_compression.zig	zig build run-basic_compression	One-shot framed and raw block compression and decompression with allocator.
Caller Buffers	examples/caller_buffer.zig	zig build run-caller_buffer	Zero-allocation compression & decompression into pre-allocated memory slices (compressInto, decompressInto).
File Compression	examples/compress_file.zig	zig build run-compress_file zig build run-decompress_file	Compressing and decompressing disk files with Zig 0.17 std.Io.
Streaming Compression	examples/streaming_compression.zig	zig build run-streaming_compression	Push-based incremental chunk compression using StreamingCompressor.
Streaming Decompression	examples/streaming_decompression.zig	zig build run-streaming_decompression	Pull-based incremental chunk decompression using StreamingDecompressor.
Reusable Context	examples/reusable_context.zig	zig build run-reusable_context	Amortizing allocation costs across thousands of operations with Compressor and Decompressor.
Error Handling	examples/error_handling.zig	zig build run-error_handling	Robust handling of corrupted streams, invalid chunk headers, and CRC-32C checksum mismatches.
Format Introspection	examples/format_introspection.zig	zig build run-format_introspection	Inspecting uncompressed lengths, magic identifiers, and block bounds.
Bit-Level & Tag Encoding	examples/bit_level.zig	zig build run-bit_level	Understanding Snappy varints, literal tags, and 1/2/4-byte copy offset tags.
I/O Pipeline	examples/io_pipeline.zig	zig build run-io_pipeline	Integrating directly with Zig 0.17 std.Io.Reader and std.Io.Writer.

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Snappy Format & Feature Matrix

Example	Format Type	Header Emitted	Integrity Check	Memory Model
basic_compression	Framed Stream (.sz)	\xff\x06\x00\x00sNaPpY	Masked CRC-32C	Dynamic & Stack buffer
caller_buffer	Framed & Raw Block	Auto-detected	Masked CRC-32C / None	Zero heap allocation
file_compression	Framed Stream (.sz)	\xff\x06\x00\x00sNaPpY	Masked CRC-32C	Zig 0.17.0 std.Io threaded filesystem
streaming_compression	Framed Stream (.sz)	\xff\x06\x00\x00sNaPpY	Masked CRC-32C	64KB staging chunk buffer
streaming_decompression	Framed Stream (.sz)	\xff\x06\x00\x00sNaPpY	Masked CRC-32C	Push/pull streaming ring buffer
reusable_context	Framed & Raw Block	Configurable	Masked CRC-32C / None	Reused hash tables & scratch memory
error_handling	Framed & Raw Block	Validated	Masked CRC-32C checked	Safe deterministic error returns
format_introspection	Framed & Raw Block	Inspected	Pre-validation	$O(1)$ zero-allocation inspection
bit_level	LEB128 & Tag bytes	Byte-level layout	Polynomial 0x82f63b78	Bit-level primitives
io_pipeline	Framed Stream (.sz)	\xff\x06\x00\x00sNaPpY	Masked CRC-32C	*std.Io.Reader $\rightarrow$ *std.Io.Writer