# Zstandard (zstd) 1.5.7

Zstandard is a fast compression algorithm providing high compression ratios. It offers a very wide range of compression/speed trade-offs, while being backed by a very fast decoder.

## Features

- **Real-time compression**: Suitable for scenarios where compression speed is critical
- **High compression ratios**: Comparable to zlib with significantly faster compression
- **Wide range of levels**: From ultra-fast to maximum compression
- **Small data optimization**: Special mode for compressing small data chunks
- **Dictionary compression**: Enhanced compression for repetitive data patterns
- **Streaming support**: Compress and decompress data streams

## Applications

Zstandard is designed for modern systems and is particularly well-suited for:
- Real-time backup systems
- Network data transfer
- File compression utilities
- Database compression
- Container image compression

## Performance

Zstandard provides significantly better compression ratios than lz4 and much faster compression than zlib, making it an excellent general-purpose compression algorithm for a wide range of use cases.

## Included Programs

- **zstd**: Main compression/decompression utility
- **zstdcat**: Decompress to stdout (link to zstd)
- **zstdgrep**: Run grep on compressed files
- **zstdless**: Run less on compressed files
- **zstdmt**: Multi-threaded version (link to zstd)
- **unzstd**: Decompression utility (link to zstd)

## Library

The package includes the `libzstd` shared library, allowing other applications to use Zstandard compression capabilities.