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Add move-to-front transform#14743

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fze-fze wants to merge 1 commit into
TheAlgorithms:masterfrom
fze-fze:add-move-to-front-transform
Open

Add move-to-front transform#14743
fze-fze wants to merge 1 commit into
TheAlgorithms:masterfrom
fze-fze:add-move-to-front-transform

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@fze-fze fze-fze commented May 31, 2026

Describe your change:

Add a pure Python implementation of the move-to-front transform in data_compression/move_to_front.py.

The new module includes:

  • move_to_front_encode() to encode text as move-to-front indexes
  • move_to_front_decode() to reconstruct text from encoded indexes
  • alphabet validation for duplicate symbols
  • doctests for normal use and invalid input
  • a Wikipedia reference for the algorithm

This fits naturally beside data_compression/burrows_wheeler.py, whose module documentation already mentions move-to-front transform as a common follow-up compression step.

  • Add an algorithm?
  • Fix a bug or typo in an existing algorithm?
  • Add or change doctests? -- Note: Please avoid changing both code and tests in a single pull request.
  • Documentation change?

Checklist:

  • I have read CONTRIBUTING.md.
  • This pull request is all my own work -- I have not plagiarized.
  • I know that pull requests will not be merged if they fail the automated tests.
  • This PR only changes one algorithm file. To ease review, please open separate PRs for separate algorithms.
  • All new Python files are placed inside an existing directory.
  • All filenames are in all lowercase characters with no spaces or dashes.
  • All functions and variable names follow Python naming conventions.
  • All function parameters and return values are annotated with Python type hints.
  • All functions have doctests that pass the automated testing.
  • All new algorithms include at least one URL that points to Wikipedia or another similar explanation.
  • If this pull request resolves one or more open issues then the description above includes the issue number(s) with a closing keyword: "Fixes #ISSUE-NUMBER".

Local verification

python3 -m doctest -v data_compression/move_to_front.py
uvx ruff check data_compression/move_to_front.py
uvx ruff format --check data_compression/move_to_front.py

I also ran a round-trip smoke test for several strings against a printable ASCII alphabet.

@algorithms-keeper algorithms-keeper Bot added the awaiting reviews This PR is ready to be reviewed label May 31, 2026
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