Golfing Run Length Encoding in Haskell — Gwern

Suppose we have levels which are specified by a pair of numbers and then a long list of numbers, often very repetitious. Perhaps a particular level might be represented this way:

level1 :: ((Int, Int), [Int])
level1 = ((2,1),[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,8,8,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,
9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,73,73,73,
65,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,
69,69,65,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,25,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,
9,9,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,65,65,65,65,65,65,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,33,33,1,1,1,1,33,33,
33,33,33,33,33,33,33,33,33,33,33,33,33,33,33,49,49,49,49,33,33,33,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,9,9,
33,33,33,33,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,9,9,1,1,1,1,1,33,33,33,33,33,33,33,33,33,33,33,33,33,
33,33,33,33,1,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,
17,17,17,81,81,81,81,81,81,81,81,81,81,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,
17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,
1,1,17,17,17,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,
65,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,65,97,33,33,33,33,37,5,69,69,65,65,65,65,65,65,67,67,67,67,
75,75,75,75,75,75,75,75,75,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,
11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,
11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,11,11,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,
3,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,67,67,67,
67,67,67,67,67,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,67,67,67,67,67,67,3,3,3,67,67,3,3,3,3,3,67,67,67,67,67,
3,3,67,67,67,67,67,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,11,11,
,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,35,35,35,35,35,3,3,3,35,35,35,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,
3,3,3,35,35,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,19,19,19,19,19,19,19,51,51,51,51,
51,51,51,51,51,51,51,51,51,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,
35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,
43,43,43,43,43,43,43,43,43,43,43,43,43,43,43,11,11,11,11,11,43,43,43,43,43,43,43,43,
3,3,3,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,67,67,67,67,
67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,
67,67,67,67,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,35,35,35,
35,35,3,3,3,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,3,3,3,3,3,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,3,
,3,3,3,35,35,35,35,35,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,19,19,19,19,19,19,19,19,19,19,19,19,
3,3,3,3,3,3,19,19,19,19,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,19,19,19,19,19,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,19,19,19,19,19,
67,67,3,3,19,19,19,19,19,19,19,19,19,19,19,19,83,83,83,83,83,19,19,19,19,19,19,19,19,
,19,83,83,83,83,83,83,83,83,83,19,19,3,3,3,3,3,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,
11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,11,
,11,43,35,35,35,35,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,
,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,
19,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,19,19,19,19,19,19,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,67,67,67,67,
3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,
3,3,3,3,19,19,19,19,19,19,19,19,19,51,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,
3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,35,35,43,
43,11,11,11,11,11,11,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,
67,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,35,43,43,43,43,43,11,11,11,11,
,83,19,19,3,3,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,67,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,
0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,
0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,
 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0])

This is an ugly way to define a level. We could just scrap this representation as Int completely and perhaps define it using a hypothetical enumerated type as

But this representation, while certainly more understandable, is still very repetitious. It will take even more space to write down.

But that makes installation and running more difficult still possible, , and it doesn’t address the core issue: the information is written in a way that is so ungainly that it’s next to impossible to write or even modify!