huffman_part_1.py

import argparse, re, math, sys, time, os

class HuffmanNode:
	"""
			Node Object that supports Merging operation as in the
		Huffman Encoding Algorithm.

		self.alphabet: list of characters at a node which share
			a common ancestors in the Huffman Tree.
		self.count: number of times the element in the list of
			characters have occured. Used for statistical purpose
			while Merging

		Example:
		>>> import huffman.HuffmanNode as HN
		>>> hn1 = HN(['A','B'],100)
		>>> hn2 = HN(['C'],200)
		>>> hn3 = hn1.merge(hn2)
		>>> hn3
		HuffmanNode(['A', 'B', 'C']|300)		
	"""
	def __init__(self, alphabet,count):
		"Create an HuffmanNode() Object"
		self.alphabet = alphabet
		self.count = count

	def merge(self, other):
		"""
				Merge two HuffmanNode() and return the newly created
			HuffmanNode() which has all the element of the two nodes 
			self and other, with count being sum of their counts.
		"""
		alphabet = self.alphabet + other.alphabet
		count = self.count + other.count
		return HuffmanNode(alphabet,count)