Längenkodierte

Längenkodierte is a German term that translates to "length-encoded" in English. It refers to a method of data transmission or storage where the length of a data segment is explicitly specified before the data itself. This allows the receiver or reader to know exactly how much data to expect for a particular element, without needing to parse for a specific delimiter or rely on a fixed structure.

This technique is commonly employed in various computing contexts. For instance, in network protocols, a packet might begin with a header indicating the size of the payload that follows. This enables efficient handling of variable-length messages. Similarly, in data serialization formats, objects or fields might be represented by their length followed by their content. This is particularly useful when the data itself could contain characters that might otherwise be mistaken for delimiters.

Längenkodierte methods simplify parsing and error detection. By knowing the expected length, a system can quickly determine if a transmission is complete or if data is missing. It also prevents issues where a delimiter might coincidentally appear within the data itself, leading to misinterpretation. The simplicity and robustness of length encoding make it a fundamental technique in many data handling systems.