Making a code comma free removes the need for separator bits

Evidence

By allocating a bit for each level, a variable-length code is built up in which a leading zero represents the beginning of a new code word up to the maximum length of the code words. This property makes the code comma free, which means it needs no additional bits to separate the variable code words from each other, thus maximizing the efficiency. A code word of length 1 is assigned to the most probable symbol, and longer-length code words are optimally assigned to the lower probability symbols. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 2642

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines ‘comma free’ precisely: a prefix property that lets variable-length words self-delimit.