FlatBuffers 1.1: a memory-efficient serialization library

APR 02, 2015

Posted by Wouter van Oortmerssen, Fun Propulsion Labs at Google*

Originally posted to the Google Open Source blog

After months in development, the FlatBuffers 1.1 update is here. Originally released in June 2014, it’s a highly efficient open source cross-platform serialization library that allows you to read data without parsing/unpacking or allocating additional memory. It supports schema evolution (forwards/backwards compatibility) and optional JSON conversion. We primarily created it for games written in C++ where performance is critical, but it’s also useful more broadly. This update brings:

an extensive overhaul to the Java API
out-of-the-box support for C# and Go
an optional verifier to make FlatBuffers practical in untrusted scenarios
.proto parsing for easier migration from Protocol Buffers
optional manual assignment of field IDs
dictionary functionality through binary search on a key field
bug fixes and other improvements thanks to 200+ commits from 28 contributors -- thank you!

Download the latest release from our github page and join our discussion list for more details.

*Fun Propulsion Labs is a team within Google that's dedicated to advancing gaming on Android and other platforms.

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