Decoding variable length codes without conditional branching

The present invention relates variable length codes. More specifically, the present invention relates to encoding variable length codes so that the variable length codes can be decoded without using conditional branching. A decoder decodes a binary input string encoded with a variable length code using an offset lookup table and a symbol lookup table. The decoder reads a first subset of leading bits from the binary input string and calculates an offset index value for the offset lookup table based on the first subset of leading bits. The offset index value is used to index the offset lookup table to obtain an offset value. Then, a symbol index value for the symbol lookup table is calculated from the offset value and a second subset of leading bits from the binary input string. The symbol index value is used to index the symbol lookup table to obtain a symbol, which corresponds to a third subset of leading bits of the binary input string.