Protocol Buffers

Protocol Buffers

Developer(s)	Google
Initial release	Early 2001 (internal)[1] July 7, 2008 (2008-07-07) (public)
Stable release	28.3  / 22 October 2024; 35 days ago (22 October 2024)[2]
Repository	github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf
Written in	C++, C#, Java, Python, JavaScript, Ruby, Go, PHP, Dart
Operating system	Any
Platform	Cross-platform
Type	serialization format and library, IDL compiler
License	BSD
Website	protobuf.dev

Protocol Buffers

Filename extension	.proto
Internet media type	application/protobuf, application/vnd.google.protobuf
Developed by	Google
Latest release	3
Type of format	Interface description language
Open format?	Yes
Free format?	Yes
Website	protobuf.dev

Protocol Buffers (Protobuf) is a free and open-source cross-platform data format used to serialize structured data. It is useful in developing programs that communicate with each other over a network or for storing data. The method involves an interface description language that describes the structure of some data and a program that generates source code from that description for generating or parsing a stream of bytes that represents the structured data.