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Google Open Sources Its Data Interchange Format

Posted by kdawson on from the it's-fast-that's-why dept.

A number of readers have noted Google's open sourcing of their internal data interchange format, called Protocol Buffers (here's the code and the doc). Google elevator statement for Protocol Buffers is "a language-neutral, platform-neutral, extensible way of serializing structured data for use in communications protocols, data storage, and more." It's the way data is formatted to move around inside of Google. Betanews spotlights some of Protocol Buffers' contrasts with XML and IDL, with which it is most comparable. Google's blogger claims, "And, yes, it is very fast — at least an order of magnitude faster than XML."

6 of 332 comments (clear)

  1. An order of magnitude over XML? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    So is, well, just about anything.

    1. Re:An order of magnitude over XML? by alexgieg · · Score: 4, Funny

      An order of magnitude over XML? So is, well, just about anything.

      Well, let's also not forget that the meaning of the expression "an order of magnitude" depends strongly from the numeric base you're using.

      --
      Conservatism: (n.) love of the existing evils. Liberalism: (n.) desire to substitute new evils for the existing ones.
    2. Re:An order of magnitude over XML? by sconeu · · Score: 4, Funny

      Nobody makes jokes in Base 13!

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
  2. Likely story! by TheRealMindChild · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Google's blogger claims, "And, yes, it is very fast -- at least an order of magnitude faster than XML."

    That is just because they aren't using enough XML!

    --

    "When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
    1. Re:Likely story! by jandrese · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yeah, I mean XML didn't earn its reputation for being lightning fast and byte efficient for nothing...

      --

      I read the internet for the articles.
  3. I bet ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... it requires piping data through google's servers for data mining and ad injection purposes.