# Run Length Encoding Implement run-length encoding and decoding. Run-length encoding (RLE) is a simple form of data compression, where runs (consecutive data elements) are replaced by just one data value and count. For example we can represent the original 53 characters with only 13. ```text "WWWWWWWWWWWWBWWWWWWWWWWWWBBBWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWB" -> "12WB12W3B24WB" ``` RLE allows the original data to be perfectly reconstructed from the compressed data, which makes it a lossless data compression. ```text "AABCCCDEEEE" -> "2AB3CD4E" -> "AABCCCDEEEE" ``` For simplicity, you can assume that the unencoded string will only contain the letters A through Z (either lower or upper case) and whitespace. This way data to be encoded will never contain any numbers and numbers inside data to be decoded always represent the count for the following character. ## Getting Started For installation and learning resources, refer to the [exercism help page](http://exercism.io/languages/ocaml). ## Installation To work on the exercises, you will need `Opam` and `Core`. Consult [opam](https://opam.ocaml.org) website for instructions on how to install `opam` for your OS. Once `opam` is installed open a terminal window and run the following command to install core: ```bash opam install core ``` To run the tests you will need `OUnit`. Install it using `opam`: ```bash opam install ounit ``` ## Running Tests A Makefile is provided with a default target to compile your solution and run the tests. At the command line, type: ```bash make ``` ## Interactive Shell `utop` is a command line program which allows you to run Ocaml code interactively. The easiest way to install it is via opam: ```bash opam install utop ``` Consult [utop](https://github.com/diml/utop/blob/master/README.md) for more detail. ## Feedback, Issues, Pull Requests The [exercism/ocaml](https://github.com/exercism/ocaml) repository on GitHub is the home for all of the Ocaml exercises. If you have feedback about an exercise, or want to help implementing a new one, head over there and create an issue. We'll do our best to help you! ## Source Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Run-length_encoding](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Run-length_encoding) ## Submitting Incomplete Solutions It's possible to submit an incomplete solution so you can see how others have completed the exercise.