Elias Gamma coding

Elias Gamma code is a universal code[?] encoding the positive integers. To code a number:

1. Write it in binary.
2. Subtract 1 from the number of bits written in step 1 and prepend that many zeros.

The code begins:

  1 1
  2 010
  3 011
  4 00100
  5 00101
  6 00110
  7 00111
  8 0001000
  9 0001001
 10 0001010
 11 0001011
 12 0001100
 13 0001101
 14 0001110
 15 0001111
 16 000010000
 17 000010001

See also Elias Delta coding