crabz is a command-line compression and decompression utility written in Rust. It draws inspiration from pigz and uses the gzp library to provide parallel processing for several related compression formats.
The application focuses on exploiting multicore processors while retaining a relatively straightforward command-line interface. It is particularly useful when processing gzip-compatible data or block-oriented compressed formats.
crabz supports configurable thread counts and optional CPU affinity. The latter allows processing threads to be assigned to specific physical cores, which may improve performance in suitable environments. Upstream describes the program as a proof of concept, so it should not be presented as a fully mature replacement for every gzip-related workflow.
This is free and open source software.
Key Features
- Parallel compression using the gzp library.
- Supports gzip, zlib and raw Deflate formats.
- Supports BGZF and Mgzip block-oriented compression formats.
- Includes support for the Snap compression format.
- Allows compression levels to be adjusted.
- Supports configurable numbers of compression threads.
- Provides multithreaded decompression for formats that permit it.
- Allows compression threads to be pinned to specific physical CPU cores.
- Offers in-place compression and decompression, removing the source file on completion.
- Supports configurable output file paths.
- Can read input from standard input.
- Writes compressed or decompressed data to standard output.
- Provides command-line help covering formats and processing options.
- Cross-platform support – runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows.
Website: github.com/sstadick/crabz
Support:
Developer: Seth Stadick
License: MIT License
crabz is written in Rust. Learn Rust with our recommended free books and free tutorials
Related Software
| Compression Tools | |
|---|---|
| LZ4 | Focused on compression and decompression speed |
| Zstandard | Fast compression algorithm, providing high compression ratios |
| brotli | Generic-purpose lossless compression algorithm |
| lzop | File compressor favoring speed over compression ratio |
| pigz | Parallel implementation of gzip |
| ouch | CLI tool for compressing and decompressing for various formats |
| pixz | Parallel, indexed xz compressor |
| gzip | Provides the standard GNU file compression utilities |
| BZip3 | Spiritual successor to BZip2 |
| bzip2 | Freely available, patent free, high-quality data compressor |
| PBZIP2 | Parallel implementation of bzip2 |
| lrzip | Achieve very high compression ratios and speed when used with large files |
| lbzip2 | Multi-threaded implementation of bzip2, suited for serial and parallel processing |
| ZXC | High-performance lossless compression library and command-line tool |
| plzip | Massively parallel lossless data compressor |
| p7zip-zstd | p7zip fork with additional codecs and improvements |
| 7-Zip | File archiver with a high compression ratio |
| ncompress | Fast, simple LZW file compressor |
| PXZ | Runs LZMA compression on multiple cores and processors |
| crabz | Like pigz but written in Rust |
| Lzip | Lossless data compressor aimed at Unix-like systems |
| cmix | Optimize compression ratio at the cost of high CPU/memory usage |
| bsc | High-performance block-sorting compressor for large files |
| rapidgzip | Parallelized decompression of gzip files |
| Kanzi | Modular lossless compressor with multithreaded processing |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
| Multi-Core Compression Tools | |
|---|---|
| Zstandard | Fast compression algorithm, providing high compression ratios |
| pigz | Parallel implementation of gzip. It's a fully functional replacement for gzip |
| pixz | Parallel indexing XZ compression, fully compatible with XZ. LZMA and LZMA2 |
| PBZIP2 | Parallel implementation of the bzip2 block-sorting file compressor |
| lrzip | Compression utility that excels at compressing large files |
| lbzip2 | Parallel bzip2 compression utility, suited for serial and parallel processing |
| plzip | Massively parallel (multi-threaded) lossless data compressor based on lzlib |
| crabz | Like pigz but written in Rust |
| PXZ | Runs LZMA compression on multiple cores and processors |
| Kanzi | Modern lossless data compressor |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
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