Prefix Coding is a #source coding technique which uniquely codes the output of the source with prefix code. Prefix code is the code in which no code word is the prefix of any other code word. In other words, if the code set given has a code that can be a prefix for another code, then the code set is not a prefix code, thus unsuited for Prefix Coding.
A much easier approach to identify whether a code set is a prefix code, is by inspecting whether the code set’s decision Tree#. If there is no code symbol get in the way, that is none of the symbol is the ancestor for another symbol, then the code set is a prefix code. Notice that the symbols are the leaves of the tree.
Note: The Source Encoder will always start in an initial state, which should be the root of the tree.
In the meantime, the prefix code must satisfy the Kraft-McMilan Inequality#.