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241 <span class="md-nav__icon md-icon"></span> 242 </label> 243 244 <a href="." class="md-nav__link md-nav__link--active"> 245 246 247 248 <span class="md-ellipsis"> 249 250 251 Overview 252 253 254 255 </span> 256 257 258 259 </a> 260 261 262 263<nav class="md-nav md-nav--secondary" aria-label="Table of contents"> 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 <label class="md-nav__title" for="__toc"> 271 <span class="md-nav__icon md-icon"></span> 272 Table of contents 273 </label> 274 <ul class="md-nav__list" data-md-component="toc" data-md-scrollfix> 275 276 <li class="md-nav__item"> 277 <a href="#why-use-flatbuffers" class="md-nav__link"> 278 <span class="md-ellipsis"> 279 280 Why Use FlatBuffers? 281 282 </span> 283 </a> 284 285</li> 286 287 <li class="md-nav__item"> 288 <a href="#why-not-use" class="md-nav__link"> 289 <span class="md-ellipsis"> 290 291 Why not use... 292 293 </span> 294 </a> 295 296</li> 297 298 </ul> 299 300</nav> 301 302 </li> 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 <li class="md-nav__item"> 313 <a href="quick_start/" class="md-nav__link"> 314 315 316 317 <span class="md-ellipsis"> 318 319 320 Quick Start 321 322 323 324 </span> 325 326 327 328 </a> 329 </li> 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 <li class="md-nav__item"> 340 <a href="tutorial/" class="md-nav__link"> 341 342 343 344 <span class="md-ellipsis"> 345 346 347 Tutorial 348 349 350 351 </span> 352 353 354 355 </a> 356 </li> 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 <li class="md-nav__item md-nav__item--nested"> 372 373 374 375 376 377 <input class="md-nav__toggle md-toggle md-toggle--indeterminate" type="checkbox" id="__nav_4" > 378 379 380 <label class="md-nav__link" for="__nav_4" id="__nav_4_label" tabindex="0"> 381 382 383 384 <span class="md-ellipsis"> 385 386 387 Compiler (flatc) 388 389 390 391 </span> 392 393 394 395 <span class="md-nav__icon md-icon"></span> 396 </label> 397 398 <nav class="md-nav" data-md-level="1" aria-labelledby="__nav_4_label" aria-expanded="false"> 399 <label class="md-nav__title" for="__nav_4"> 400 <span class="md-nav__icon md-icon"></span> 401 402 403 Compiler (flatc) 404 405 406 </label> 407 <ul class="md-nav__list" data-md-scrollfix> 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 <li class="md-nav__item"> 416 <a href="building/" class="md-nav__link"> 417 418 419 420 <span class="md-ellipsis"> 421 422 423 Building 424 425 426 427 </span> 428 429 430 431 </a> 432 </li> 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 <li class="md-nav__item"> 444 <a href="flatc/" class="md-nav__link"> 445 446 447 448 <span class="md-ellipsis"> 449 450 451 Using 452 453 454 455 </span> 456 457 458 459 </a> 460 </li> 461 462 463 464 465 </ul> 466 </nav> 467 468 </li> 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 <li class="md-nav__item md-nav__item--nested"> 484 485 486 487 488 489 <input class="md-nav__toggle md-toggle md-toggle--indeterminate" type="checkbox" id="__nav_5" > 490 491 492 <label class="md-nav__link" for="__nav_5" id="__nav_5_label" tabindex="0"> 493 494 495 496 <span class="md-ellipsis"> 497 498 499 Schema (.fbs) 500 501 502 503 </span> 504 505 506 507 <span class="md-nav__icon md-icon"></span> 508 </label> 509 510 <nav class="md-nav" data-md-level="1" aria-labelledby="__nav_5_label" aria-expanded="false"> 511 <label class="md-nav__title" for="__nav_5"> 512 <span class="md-nav__icon md-icon"></span> 513 514 515 Schema (.fbs) 516 517 518 </label> 519 <ul class="md-nav__list" data-md-scrollfix> 520 521 522 523 524 525 526 527 <li class="md-nav__item"> 528 <a href="schema/" class="md-nav__link"> 529 530 531 532 <span class="md-ellipsis"> 533 534 535 Overview 536 537 538 539 </span> 540 541 542 543 </a> 544 </li> 545 546 547 548 549 550 551 552 553 554 555 <li class="md-nav__item"> 556 <a href="evolution/" class="md-nav__link"> 557 558 559 560 <span class="md-ellipsis"> 561 562 563 Evolution 564 565 566 567 </span> 568 569 570 571 </a> 572 </li> 573 574 575 576 577 578 579 580 581 582 583 <li class="md-nav__item"> 584 <a href="grammar/" class="md-nav__link"> 585 586 587 588 <span class="md-ellipsis"> 589 590 591 Grammar 592 593 594 595 </span> 596 597 598 599 </a> 600 </li> 601 602 603 604 605 </ul> 606 </nav> 607 608 </li> 609 610 611 612 613 614 615 616 617 618 619 620 621 622 623 <li class="md-nav__item md-nav__item--nested"> 624 625 626 627 628 629 <input class="md-nav__toggle md-toggle md-toggle--indeterminate" type="checkbox" id="__nav_6" > 630 631 632 <label class="md-nav__link" for="__nav_6" id="__nav_6_label" tabindex="0"> 633 634 635 636 <span class="md-ellipsis"> 637 638 639 Language Guides 640 641 642 643 </span> 644 645 646
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1177 <span class="md-nav__icon md-icon"></span> 1178 </label> 1179 1180 <nav class="md-nav" data-md-level="1" aria-labelledby="__nav_9_label" aria-expanded="false"> 1181 <label class="md-nav__title" for="__nav_9"> 1182 <span class="md-nav__icon md-icon"></span> 1183 1184 1185 Advanced 1186 1187 1188 </label> 1189 <ul class="md-nav__list" data-md-scrollfix> 1190 1191 1192 1193 1194 1195 1196 1197 <li class="md-nav__item"> 1198 <a href="internals/" class="md-nav__link"> 1199 1200 1201 1202 <span class="md-ellipsis"> 1203 1204 1205 FlatBuffers Internals 1206 1207 1208 1209 </span> 1210 1211 1212 1213 </a> 1214 </li> 1215 1216 1217 1218 1219 1220 1221 1222 1223 1224 1225 <li class="md-nav__item"> 1226 <a href="intermediate_representation/" class="md-nav__link"> 1227 1228 1229 1230 <span class="md-ellipsis"> 1231 1232 1233 Intermediate Representation 1234 1235 1236 1237 </span> 1238 1239 1240 1241 </a> 1242 </li> 1243 1244 1245 1246 1247 1248 1249 1250 1251 1252 1253 <li class="md-nav__item"> 1254 <a href="annotation/" class="md-nav__link"> 1255 1256 1257 1258 <span class="md-ellipsis"> 1259 1260 1261 Annotating Buffers (.afb) 1262 1263 1264 1265 </span> 1266 1267 1268 1269 </a> 1270 </li> 1271 1272 1273 1274 1275 1276 1277 1278 1279 1280 1281 <li class="md-nav__item"> 1282 <a href="benchmarks/" class="md-nav__link"> 1283 1284 1285 1286 <span class="md-ellipsis"> 1287 1288 1289 Benchmarks 1290 1291 1292 1293 </span> 1294 1295 1296 1297 </a> 1298 </li> 1299 1300 1301 1302 1303 </ul> 1304 </nav> 1305 1306 </li> 1307 1308 1309 1310 1311 1312 1313 1314 1315 1316 <li class="md-nav__item"> 1317 <a href="flexbuffers/" class="md-nav__link"> 1318 1319 1320 1321 <span class="md-ellipsis"> 1322 1323 1324 FlexBuffers (Schema-less version) 1325 1326 1327 1328 </span> 1329 1330 1331 1332 </a> 1333 </li> 1334 1335 1336 1337 1338 1339 1340 1341 1342 1343 <li class="md-nav__item"> 1344 <a href="contributing/" class="md-nav__link"> 1345 1346 1347 1348 <span class="md-ellipsis"> 1349 1350 1351 Contributing 1352 1353 1354 1355 </span> 1356 1357 1358 1359 </a> 1360 </li> 1361 1362 1363 1364 </ul> 1365</nav> 1366 </div> 1367 </div> 1368 </div> 1369 1370 1371 1372 <div class="md-sidebar md-sidebar--secondary" data-md-component="sidebar" data-md-type="toc" > 1373 <div class="md-sidebar__scrollwrap"> 1374 <div class="md-sidebar__inner"> 1375 1376 1377<nav class="md-nav md-nav--secondary" aria-label="Table of contents"> 1378 1379 1380 1381 1382 1383 1384 <label class="md-nav__title" for="__toc"> 1385 <span class="md-nav__icon md-icon"></span> 1386 Table of contents 1387 </label> 1388 <ul class="md-nav__list" data-md-component="toc" data-md-scrollfix> 1389 1390 <li class="md-nav__item"> 1391 <a href="#why-use-flatbuffers" class="md-nav__link"> 1392 <span class="md-ellipsis"> 1393 1394 Why Use FlatBuffers? 1395 1396 </span> 1397 </a> 1398 1399</li> 1400 1401 <li class="md-nav__item"> 1402 <a href="#why-not-use" class="md-nav__link"> 1403 <span class="md-ellipsis"> 1404 1405 Why not use... 1406 1407 </span> 1408 </a> 1409 1410</li> 1411 1412 </ul> 1413 1414</nav> 1415 </div> 1416 </div> 1417 </div> 1418 1419 1420 1421 <div class="md-content" data-md-component="content"> 1422 1423 <article class="md-content__inner md-typeset"> 1424 1425 1426 1427 1428 1429 <a href="https://github.com/google/flatbuffers/edit/master/docs/source/index.md" title="Edit this page" class="md-content__button md-icon" rel="edit"> 1430 1431 <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 24 24"><path d="M10 20H6V4h7v5h5v3.1l2-2V8l-6-6H6c-1.1 0-2 .9-2 2v16c0 1.1.9 2 2 2h4zm10.2-7c.1 0 .3.1.4.2l1.3 1.3c.2.2.2.6 0 .8l-1 1-2.1-2.1 1-1c.1-.1.2-.2.4-.2m0 3.9L14.1 23H12v-2.1l6.1-6.1z"/></svg> 1432 </a> 1433 1434 1435 1436 1437<h1 id="overview">Overview</h1> 1438<p>FlatBuffers is an efficient cross platform serialization library for C++, C#, C, 1439Go, Java, Kotlin, JavaScript, Lobster, Lua, TypeScript, PHP, Python, Rust and 1440Swift. It was originally created at Google for game development and other 1441performance-critical applications.</p> 1442<p>It is available as Open Source on 1443<a href="https://github.com/google/flatbuffers">GitHub</a> under the Apache license v2.0.</p> 1444<h2 id="why-use-flatbuffers">Why Use FlatBuffers?</h2> 1445<div class="grid cards"> 1446<ul> 1447<li> 1448<p><span class="twemoji lg middle"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 24 24">
1448<path d="M15 4a8 8 0 0 1 8 8 8 8 0 0 1-8 8 8 8 0 0 1-8-8 8 8 0 0 1 8-8m0 2a6 6 0 0 0-6 6 6 6 0 0 0 6 6 6 6 0 0 0 6-6 6 6 0 0 0-6-6m-1 2h1.5v3.78l2.33 2.33-1.06 1.06L14 12.4zM2 18a1 1 0 0 1-1-1 1 1 0 0 1 1-1h3.83c.31.71.71 1.38 1.17 2zm1-5a1 1 0 0 1-1-1 1 1 0 0 1 1-1h2.05L5 12l.05 1zm1-5a1 1 0 0 1-1-1 1 1 0 0 1 1-1h3c-.46.62-.86 1.29-1.17 2z"/></svg></span> <strong>Access to serialized data without 1449 parsing/unpacking</strong></p> 1450<hr /> 1451<p>Access the data directly without unpacking or parsing.</p> 1452</li> 1453<li> 1454<p><span class="twemoji lg middle"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 24 24"><path d="M17 17H7V7h10m4 4V9h-2V7a2 2 0 0 0-2-2h-2V3h-2v2h-2V3H9v2H7c-1.11 0-2 .89-2 2v2H3v2h2v2H3v2h2v2a2 2 0 0 0 2 2h2v2h2v-2h2v2h2v-2h2a2 2 0 0 0 2-2v-2h2v-2h-2v-2m-6 2h-2v-2h2m2-2H9v6h6z"/></svg></span> <strong>Memory Efficiency and Speed</strong></p> 1455<hr /> 1456<p>The only memory needed to access your data is that of the buffer. 1457 No heap is required.</p> 1458</li> 1459<li> 1460<p><span class="twemoji lg middle"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 24 24"><path d="M9 14H2v2h7v3l4-4-4-4zm6-1v-3h7V8h-7V5l-4 4z"/></svg></span> <strong>Backwards and Forwards 1461 Compatibility</strong></p> 1462<hr /> 1463<p>FlatBuffers enables the schema to evolve over time while still maintaining 1464 forwards and backwards compatibility with old flatbuffers.</p> 1465</li> 1466<li> 1467<p><span class="twemoji lg middle"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 24 24"><path d="m22.11 21.46-1.27 1.27L19.11 21H18v-1.11L12.11 14H11v-1.11l-.69-.69a7.9 7.9 0 0 0-3.22 1.48l1.37 1.38-1.41 1.41-1.37-1.37A7.94 7.94 0 0 0 4.06 19H6v2H2v-1a10 10 0 0 1 6.68-9.43L3.85 5.74 2 5V3.89L1.11 3l1.28-1.27m19.52 16.98A10 10 0 0 0 14 10.2v-2L22 5V3H6.2M12 18a1.84 1.84 0 0 0-.88.21L7.27 20l3.85 1.79A1.84 1.84 0 0 0 12 22a2 2 0 0 0 0-4"/></svg></span> <strong>Small Footprint</strong></p> 1468<hr /> 1469<p>Minimal dependencies and small code footprint.</p> 1470</li> 1471</ul> 1472</div> 1473<h2 id="why-not-use">Why not use...</h2> 1474<div class="tabbed-set tabbed-alternate" data-tabs="1:2"><input checked="checked" id="protocol-buffers" name="__tabbed_1" type="radio" /><input id="json" name="__tabbed_1" type="radio" /><div class="tabbed-labels"><label for="protocol-buffers">Protocol Buffers</label><label for="json">JSON</label></div> 1475<div class="tabbed-content"> 1476<div class="tabbed-block"> 1477<p>Protocol Buffers is indeed relatively similar to FlatBuffers, with the primary 1478difference being that FlatBuffers does not need a parsing/unpacking step to a 1479secondary representation before you can access data, often coupled with 1480per-object memory allocation. The code is an order of magnitude bigger, too.</p> 1481</div> 1482<div class="tabbed-block"> 1483<p>JSON is very readable (which is why we use it as our optional text format) and 1484very convenient when used together with dynamically typed languages (such as 1485JavaScript). When serializing data from statically typed languages, however, 1486JSON not only has the obvious drawback of runtime inefficiency, but also forces 1487you to write more code to access data (counterintuitively) due to its 1488dynamic-typing serialization system. In this context, it is only a better choice 1489for systems that have very little to no information ahead of time about what 1490data needs to be stored.</p> 1491</div> 1492</div> 1493</div> 1494 1495 1496 1497 1498 1499 1500 1501 1502 1503 1504 1505 1506 1507 </article> 1508 </div> 1509 1510 1511
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