Overview

ZeroBuf implements zero-copy, zero-serialize, zero-hassle protocol buffers. It is a replacement for FlatBuffers, resolving the following shortcomings:

• Direct get and set functionality on the defined data members
• A single memory buffer storing all data members, which is directly serializable
• Usable, random read and write access to the the data members
• Zero copy of the data used by the (C++) implementation from and to the network

Features

• Storage of (u)int[8,16,32,64,128]_t, float, double single elements, static and dynamic sub-structures, fixed size and dynamic arrays of static-sized elements
• Access to arrays using raw pointers, iterators, std::array, std::string and std::vector
• Conversion to and from a JSON representation

Extensions to flatbuffers grammar

• Arrays can have an optional fixed size specified as part of the type, e.g., matrix:[float:16] for a 16 value float array
• byte and ubyte data is base64 encoded in JSON, int8_t and uint8_t are represented as value arrays

This work has been partially funded by the European Union Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007­2013) under grant agreement no. 604102 (HBP).