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The compress package provides implementations of various compression algorithms. It contains subpackages for specific compression formats.

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Subpackages

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compress/gzip

Reading and writing gzip format compressed files (RFC 1952). 
import (
    "compress/gzip"
    "io"
    "os"
)

// Compress data
func compressGzip(data []byte, filename string) error {
    f, err := os.Create(filename)
    if err != nil {
        return err
    }
    defer f.Close()

    gw := gzip.NewWriter(f)
    defer gw.Close()

    gw.Name = "original.txt"
    gw.Comment = "Compressed data"

    _, err = gw.Write(data)
    return err
}

// Decompress data
func decompressGzip(filename string) ([]byte, error) {
    f, err := os.Open(filename)
    if err != nil {
        return nil, err
    }
    defer f.Close()

    gr, err := gzip.NewReader(f)
    if err != nil {
        return nil, err
    }
    defer gr.Close()

    return io.ReadAll(gr)
}

​
compress/zlib

Reading and writing zlib format compressed data (RFC 1950). 
import (
    "bytes"
    "compress/zlib"
    "io"
)

// Compress with zlib
func compressZlib(data []byte) ([]byte, error) {
    var buf bytes.Buffer
    
    w := zlib.NewWriter(&buf)
    _, err := w.Write(data)
    if err != nil {
        return nil, err
    }
    
    if err := w.Close(); err != nil {
        return nil, err
    }
    
    return buf.Bytes(), nil
}

// Decompress zlib data
func decompressZlib(data []byte) ([]byte, error) {
    r, err := zlib.NewReader(bytes.NewReader(data))
    if err != nil {
        return nil, err
    }
    defer r.Close()
    
    return io.ReadAll(r)
}

​
compress/flate

Implements the DEFLATE compressed data format (RFC 1951). Used by gzip and zlib. 
import (
    "bytes"
    "compress/flate"
    "io"
)

// Compress with flate
func compressFlate(data []byte, level int) ([]byte, error) {
    var buf bytes.Buffer
    
    w, err := flate.NewWriter(&buf, level)
    if err != nil {
        return nil, err
    }
    
    _, err = w.Write(data)
    if err != nil {
        return nil, err
    }
    
    if err := w.Close(); err != nil {
        return nil, err
    }
    
    return buf.Bytes(), nil
}

// Decompress flate data
func decompressFlate(data []byte) ([]byte, error) {
    r := flate.NewReader(bytes.NewReader(data))
    defer r.Close()
    
    return io.ReadAll(r)
}

​
compress/bzip2

Reading bzip2 format compressed data. Note: bzip2 only supports decompression. 
import (
    "compress/bzip2"
    "io"
    "os"
)

// Decompress bzip2 file
func decompressBzip2(filename string) ([]byte, error) {
    f, err := os.Open(filename)
    if err != nil {
        return nil, err
    }
    defer f.Close()

    r := bzip2.NewReader(f)
    return io.ReadAll(r)
}

​
compress/lzw

Lempel-Ziv-Welch compressed data format. Used in GIF and TIFF files. 
import (
    "bytes"
    "compress/lzw"
    "io"
)

// Compress with LZW
func compressLZW(data []byte, order lzw.Order, litWidth int) ([]byte, error) {
    var buf bytes.Buffer
    
    w := lzw.NewWriter(&buf, order, litWidth)
    _, err := w.Write(data)
    if err != nil {
        return nil, err
    }
    
    if err := w.Close(); err != nil {
        return nil, err
    }
    
    return buf.Bytes(), nil
}

// Decompress LZW data
func decompressLZW(data []byte, order lzw.Order, litWidth int) ([]byte, error) {
    r := lzw.NewReader(bytes.NewReader(data), order, litWidth)
    defer r.Close()
    
    return io.ReadAll(r)
}

​
Compression Levels

Most compression formats support different compression levels: 
const (
    NoCompression      = 0  // No compression
    BestSpeed          = 1  // Fastest compression
    BestCompression    = 9  // Best compression ratio
    DefaultCompression = -1 // Default compression level
    HuffmanOnly        = -2 // Huffman encoding only (flate)
)
Example - Setting compression level: 
import "compress/gzip"

func compressWithLevel(data []byte, level int) ([]byte, error) {
    var buf bytes.Buffer
    
    w, err := gzip.NewWriterLevel(&buf, level)
    if err != nil {
        return nil, err
    }
    defer w.Close()
    
    _, err = w.Write(data)
    if err != nil {
        return nil, err
    }
    
    return buf.Bytes(), nil
}

​
Practical Examples

​
HTTP Response Compression

import (
    "compress/gzip"
    "net/http"
)

type gzipResponseWriter struct {
    io.Writer
    http.ResponseWriter
}

func (w gzipResponseWriter) Write(b []byte) (int, error) {
    return w.Writer.Write(b)
}

func gzipHandler(fn http.HandlerFunc) http.HandlerFunc {
    return func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
        if !strings.Contains(r.Header.Get("Accept-Encoding"), "gzip") {
            fn(w, r)
            return
        }
        
        w.Header().Set("Content-Encoding", "gzip")
        gz := gzip.NewWriter(w)
        defer gz.Close()
        
        gzr := gzipResponseWriter{Writer: gz, ResponseWriter: w}
        fn(gzr, r)
    }
}

​
Compress Files in Archive

import (
    "archive/tar"
    "compress/gzip"
    "io"
    "os"
)

func createTarGz(files []string, output string) error {
    f, err := os.Create(output)
    if err != nil {
        return err
    }
    defer f.Close()

    gw := gzip.NewWriter(f)
    defer gw.Close()

    tw := tar.NewWriter(gw)
    defer tw.Close()

    for _, file := range files {
        if err := addToTar(tw, file); err != nil {
            return err
        }
    }

    return nil
}

func addToTar(tw *tar.Writer, filename string) error {
    file, err := os.Open(filename)
    if err != nil {
        return err
    }
    defer file.Close()

    info, err := file.Stat()
    if err != nil {
        return err
    }

    header := &tar.Header{
        Name:    filename,
        Size:    info.Size(),
        Mode:    int64(info.Mode()),
        ModTime: info.ModTime(),
    }

    if err := tw.WriteHeader(header); err != nil {
        return err
    }

    _, err = io.Copy(tw, file)
    return err
}

​
Stream Compression

import (
    "compress/gzip"
    "io"
)

// Compress data from reader to writer
func streamCompress(r io.Reader, w io.Writer) error {
    gw := gzip.NewWriter(w)
    defer gw.Close()
    
    _, err := io.Copy(gw, r)
    return err
}

// Decompress data from reader to writer
func streamDecompress(r io.Reader, w io.Writer) error {
    gr, err := gzip.NewReader(r)
    if err != nil {
        return err
    }
    defer gr.Close()
    
    _, err = io.Copy(w, gr)
    return err
}

​
Format Comparison

FormatCompressionDecompressionUse Case
gzipYesYesGeneral-purpose, HTTP, archives
zlibYesYesPNG images, lower overhead than gzip
flateYesYesLow-level DEFLATE, basis for gzip/zlib
bzip2NoYesHigh compression ratio
lzwYesYesGIF and TIFF images

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Performance Tips

  1. Choose appropriate compression level - Balance between speed and compression ratio
  2. Reuse writers - Use Reset() method to reuse compression writers
  3. Stream when possible - Avoid loading entire file into memory
  4. Always close writers - Ensures all data is flushed and trailers are written
  5. Buffer I/O - Combine with bufio for better performance on small writes

​
Common Use Cases

  • Compressing HTTP responses to reduce bandwidth
  • Creating compressed archives (.tar.gz, .zip)
  • Storing log files with compression
  • Reducing database backup sizes
  • Compressing data before network transmission

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