Module compression overview

"This article will teach you how to use the package compression, new in Python 3.14. You will learn how to compress and decompress data directly; write and read from compressed files; compress and decompress data incrementally; you'll also learn what compression algorithms are available to you and which ones are available in Python versions earlier than 3.14."

"The package compression makes five compression modules available to you: bz2 - comprehensive interface for compressing and decompressing data using the bzip2 compression algorithm; gzip - adds support for working with gzip files through a simple interface to compress and decompress files like the GNU programs gzip and gunzip would; lzma - interface for compressing and decompressing data using the LZMA compression algorithm; zlib - interface for the zlib library (lower-level than gzip); and zstd - interface for compressing and decompressing data using the Zstandard compression algorithm."

"The first four modules ( bz2, gzip, lzma, and zlib) were already available in earlier Python 3 versions as standalone modules. This means you can import these modules directly in earlier versions of Python: # Python 3.12 >>> import bz2, gzip, lzma, zlib >>> # No exception raised. In Python 3.14, they continue to be importable directly and through the package compression: # Python 3.14 >>> import bz2, gzip, lzma, zlib >>> # No exception raised. >>> from compression import bz2, gzip, lzma, zlib >>> # No exception raised. The package compression.zstd is new in Python 3.14 and can only be imported as compression.zstd: # Python 3.14 >>> import zstd # ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'zstd' >>> from compression import zstd # ✅ >>> # No exception raised."

The compression package centralizes five modules: bz2, gzip, lzma, zlib, and zstd. The first four are available as standalone modules in earlier Python versions and remain importable directly or through compression. The zstd module is new in Python 3.14 and must be imported as compression.zstd. The package supports direct compression and decompression of data, reading and writing compressed files, and incremental compression and decompression. Code examples demonstrate import behavior and module availability differences between Python 3.12 and 3.14.

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