Efficient Bit-Packed Integer Vectors in Rust: O(1) Random Access with Bit Compression
2025-09-25
This article explores the engineering challenges of implementing an efficient vector-like data structure in Rust that stores integers in a compressed, bit-packed format while achieving O(1) random access performance and minimizing memory usage. The article details the implementation of bit packing and access, crossing word boundaries, unaligned access, iterators, and mutability, and demonstrates its performance advantages through benchmark results. Furthermore, the article discusses the architectural design of this data structure, including abstractions over the physical storage layer and logical type layer, and the use of a builder pattern, offering new ideas for building efficient and flexible data structures.
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Bit Packing