Show HN: I got tired of Base64, so I made a numeric-only alternative

4 pointsForgret6mo ago7 comments

I created numbase is an alternative to Base64 that encodes data into a single large number instead of ASCII characters. It's useful if you want to store or transmit data in numeric form and easily apply compression algorithms like Huffman.

GitHub: https://github.com/Ferki-git-creator/numbase

7 comments

BinaryIgor6mo ago

Hmm - why would you do that? How much data, if any, can you safe by compressing it as to compared with the classic Base64?

ForgretOP6mo ago

It depends on the data. Base64 adds ~33% overhead, while NUMBASE can be encoded into one large number at once and compressed with Huffman or other algorithms. For some data types this results in fewer extra characters.

a570xyz6mo ago

I'm very curious as to how one gets tired of Base64?

ForgretOP6mo ago

Base64 is great and widely used. I just wanted to experiment with a numeric-only representation. NUMBASE encodes everything into a single large number, which can make certain compression schemes like Huffman more efficient and opens up new ways to store or transmit data.

gabrielsroka6mo ago

Url?

ForgretOP6mo ago

URL I added it to the description.

Or here it is: https://github.com/Ferki-git-creator/numbase

ForgretOP6mo ago

Ops, I forgot to add the link.

https://github.com/Ferki-git-creator/numbase

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