protobuf README

The project's README from github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf. As one markdown file: README.md.

Protocol Buffers - Google's data interchange format

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Copyright 2008 Google LLC

Overview

Protocol Buffers (a.k.a., protobuf) are Google's language-neutral, platform-neutral, extensible mechanism for serializing structured data. You can learn more about it in protobuf's documentation.

This README file contains protobuf installation instructions. To install protobuf, you need to install the protocol compiler (used to compile .proto files) and the protobuf runtime for your chosen programming language.

Working With Protobuf Source Code

Most users will find working from supported releases to be the easiest path.

If you choose to work from the head revision of the main branch your build will occasionally be broken by source-incompatible changes and insufficiently-tested (and therefore broken) behavior.

If you are using C++ or otherwise need to build protobuf from source as a part of your project, you should pin to a release commit on a release branch.

This is because even release branches can experience some instability in between release commits.

Bazel with Bzlmod

Protobuf supports Bzlmod with Bazel 8 +. Users should specify a dependency on protobuf in their MODULE.bazel file as follows.

bazel_dep(name = "protobuf", version = <VERSION>)

Users can optionally override the repo name, such as for compatibility with WORKSPACE.

bazel_dep(name = "protobuf", version = <VERSION>, repo_name = "com_google_protobuf")

Bazel with WORKSPACE

Users can also add the following to their legacy WORKSPACE file.

Note that with the release of 30.x there are a few more load statements to properly set up rules_java and rules_python.

http_archive(
    name = "com_google_protobuf",
    strip_prefix = "protobuf-VERSION",
    sha256 = ...,
    url = ...,
)

load("@com_google_protobuf//:protobuf_deps.bzl", "protobuf_deps")

protobuf_deps()

load("@rules_java//java:rules_java_deps.bzl", "rules_java_dependencies")

rules_java_dependencies()

load("@rules_java//java:repositories.bzl", "rules_java_toolchains")

rules_java_toolchains()

load("@rules_python//python:repositories.bzl", "py_repositories")

py_repositories()

Protobuf Compiler Installation

The protobuf compiler is written in C++. If you are using C++, please follow the C++ Installation Instructions to install protoc along with the C++ runtime.

For non-C++ users, the simplest way to install the protocol compiler is to download a pre-built binary from our GitHub release page.

In the downloads section of each release, you can find pre-built binaries in zip packages: protoc-$VERSION-$PLATFORM.zip. It contains the protoc binary as well as a set of standard .proto files distributed along with protobuf.

If you are looking for an old version that is not available in the release page, check out the Maven repository.

These pre-built binaries are only provided for released versions. If you want to use the github main version at HEAD, or you need to modify protobuf code, or you are using C++, it's recommended to build your own protoc binary from source.

If you would like to build protoc binary from source, see the C++ Installation Instructions.

Protobuf Runtime Installation

Protobuf supports several different programming languages. For each programming language, you can find instructions in the corresponding source directory about how to install protobuf runtime for that specific language:

Language Source
C++ (include C++ runtime and protoc) src
Java java
Python python
Objective-C objectivec
C# csharp
Ruby ruby
Go protocolbuffers/protobuf-go
PHP php
Dart dart-lang/protobuf
JavaScript protocolbuffers/protobuf-javascript

Quick Start

The best way to learn how to use protobuf is to follow the tutorials in our developer guide.

If you want to learn from code examples, take a look at the examples in the examples directory.

Documentation

The complete documentation is available at the Protocol Buffers doc site.

Support Policy

Read about our version support policy to stay current on support timeframes for the language libraries.

Developer Community

To be alerted to upcoming changes in Protocol Buffers and connect with protobuf developers and users, join the Google Group.

protobuf (protocolbuffers/protobuf)

protocol-buffers
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72.1K ·GitHub
Protobuf
What is this?Protocol Buffers (protobuf) is Google's language-neutral, platform-neutral, extensible mechanism for serializing structured data, similar to XML but smaller, faster, and simpler.
Is this a library, or also a compiler?Both: you write .proto schema files and compile them with the protoc compiler, then link the generated code against a per-language protobuf runtime library.
How do I install the compiler and runtime?For non-C++ users, download a pre-built protoc binary (protoc-$VERSION-$PLATFORM.zip) from the GitHub release page; for C++ or to build from source, follow the C++ Installation Instructions and pin to a release branch commit.
Which languages have a supported runtime?C++, Java, Python, Objective-C, C#, Ruby, PHP are in this repo, while Go, Dart, and JavaScript runtimes live in separate repositories.
Is it safe to build from the main branch at HEAD?No — building from the head revision can break due to source-incompatible changes and insufficiently-tested behavior, so you should pin to a release branch commit instead.
Who typically uses this?Developers who need a compact, fast, cross-language way to serialize structured data, commonly for RPC and data interchange between services written in different languages.
Can I use Bazel to pull in protobuf?Yes, protobuf supports Bzlmod with Bazel 8+ via MODULE.bazel, and also has legacy WORKSPACE support.
Where can I see protobuf used in real code?The examples directory in the repository contains code examples referenced by the developer guide tutorials.
Where is the full documentation?The complete documentation is hosted at the Protocol Buffers doc site, which covers language guides and the version support policy.
What are similar projects?flatbuffers, protobuf, buf, thrift, protobuf.js, grpc, capnproto, arrow
Which topics is it in?protocol-buffers, protobuf, serialization, parsing, rpc, protocol, google, compiler, json, sdk, c++, java
Creator
protocolbuffers
Size
242.8 MB
Stars
72.1K
Updated
CommitOct 17Releasev36.2Sep 17
Age
12y
Commits · 90 Days