How to: Gzip compression with PHP

Gzip compression is a quick and easy way to decrease page size and lower bandwidth bills.

PHP is the scripting language of choice for web applications built at Kaifu Computing. We are obsessed with finding ways to increase the performance of our solutions - reducing a page load by 0.1 seconds makes us very happy.

Gzip is the name of a compression/decompression library released by the GNU Project under a free, open-source license. It is based on Lempel-Ziv coding, otherwise known as LZ77.

In PHP it only takes a single line of code to Gzip compress the generated output, which is usually HTML. Here it is:

<?php ob_start("ob_gzhandler"); ?>

That's it. Place it at the start of your application before any output is sent and PHP will automatically buffer any generated output, Gzip compress it and then send the appropriate headers and data to the visitor.

Here are some figures taken from kaifu.co.uk to demonstrate how effective this single line of code really is:

Page size without Gzip: 10.57 KB

Page size with Gzip on: 3.15 KB

This is a compression ratio of 70.2%! This saving is not a hypothetical best case, it is a real world saving available to most website owners. Reducing the page size by 70% will reduce your bandwidth costs by 70% - a serious saving for even a small website.

Talk to Kaifu Computing today to get your website optimised to load quickly for anyone, anywhere in the world.

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