heatshrink ☆

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Description:
Data compression library for embedded/real-time systems

Type: Formula | Tracked Since: Dec 28, 2025

Links: Homepage | formulae.brew.sh

Category: Developer tools

Tags: compression embedded lzss library c real-time

Install: brew install heatshrink

About:
Heatshrink is a lightweight, ANSI C data compression library designed specifically for embedded systems and real-time environments with limited memory and processing power. It implements a simple byte-aligned LZSS compression algorithm that prioritizes low memory usage and deterministic performance over maximum compression ratios. The library is dependency-free, portable, and suitable for compressing data streams on microcontrollers and other resource-constrained devices.

Key Features:

Low memory footprint suitable for microcontrollers
Deterministic performance with no dynamic allocation
Simple byte-aligned LZSS algorithm
Dependency-free, portable ANSI C implementation
Streaming API for processing data in chunks

Use Cases:

Compressing firmware updates for embedded devices
Reducing storage requirements for sensor data logging
Optimizing network bandwidth for IoT device communication
Compressing configuration data in memory-constrained systems

Alternatives:

zlib – More powerful but much larger memory and CPU requirements
LZ4 – Faster compression but less optimized for microcontrollers
miniz – Better compression ratio but higher complexity and memory usage

Version History

Detected	Version	Rev	Change	Commit
Sep 13, 2024 4:46pm		0	VERSION_BUMP	790d309c