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

Building from Source

ZeroBuf is a cross-platform library, designed to run on any modern operating system, including all Unix variants. It requires a C++11 compiler and uses CMake to create a platform-specific build environment. The following platforms and build environments are tested:

Linux: Ubuntu 16.04, RHEL 6.8 (Makefile, Ninja)
Mac OS X: 10.9 (Makefile, Ninja)

Building from source is as simple as:

git clone https://github.com/HBPVIS/ZeroBuf.git
mkdir ZeroBuf/build
cd ZeroBuf/build
cmake -GNinja ..
ninja

This work has been partially funded by the European Union Seventh Framework Program (FP7/20072013) under grant agreement no. 604102 (HBP).