Backports Zstandard (zstd)

Common errors

Warnings

Install

Install compatibility verified last tested: 2026-05-12

Imports

• zstd

  import sys
  if sys.version_info >= (3, 14):
      from compression import zstd
  else:
      from backports import zstd

  Conditional import is crucial for compatibility across Python 3.9+ where 'compression.zstd' is native in 3.14+.

• tarfile

  import sys
  if sys.version_info >= (3, 14):
      import tarfile
  else:
      from backports.zstd import tarfile

  Conditional import for Zstandard-aware tarfile module.

• zipfile

  import sys
  if sys.version_info >= (3, 14):
      import zipfile
  else:
      from backports.zstd import zipfile

  Conditional import for Zstandard-aware zipfile module.

• register_shutil

  import sys
  if sys.version_info < (3, 14):
      from backports.zstd import register_shutil
      register_shutil()

  Registers Zstandard support with the shutil module for older Python versions. Not needed for Python 3.14+.

Quickstart last tested: 2026-04-24

Demonstrates how to conditionally import the `zstd` module and perform basic compression and decompression of byte data. This pattern ensures your code works across Python versions where `compression.zstd` is either in the standard library or provided by the backport.

import sys

if sys.version_info >= (3, 14):
    from compression import zstd
else:
    from backports import zstd

original_data = b"Hello, Zstandard backport! " * 100

# Compress data
compressed_data = zstd.compress(original_data)
print(f"Original size: {len(original_data)} bytes")
print(f"Compressed size: {len(compressed_data)} bytes")

# Decompress data
decompressed_data = zstd.decompress(compressed_data)
print(f"Decompressed size: {len(decompressed_data)} bytes")
assert original_data == decompressed_data