INSTRUCTION SET FOR VARIABLE LENGTH INTEGER CODING

Instruction sets for variable length integer (varint) coding and associated methods and apparatus. The instructions sets include instructions for encoding and decoding varints, and may be included as a part of an instruction set architecture (ISA) for processors architectures such as x86 and Arm-based architectures, as well as other ISAs. In one aspect, the instructions include, a varint size encode instruction to encode a size of a varint, a varint encode instruction to encode a varint, a varint size decode instruction to decode a size of an encoded varint, and a varint decode instruction to decode an encoded varint. Varint encode size and encode instructions may be combined in a single instructions. Similarly, varint decode size and decode instructions may be combined in a single instruction. In one aspect, the instructions use a variable-length quantity (VLQ) encoding scheme under which varints are encoded into one or more VLQ octets.