How do we use Protobuf?

Protocol Buffers, also known as Protobuf, is a language-neutral, platform-neutral, and extensible mechanism for serializing structured data. Here are the basic steps for using Protobuf:

1. Define message structure: Define message structure using Protobuf syntax, including information such as message types, fields, and field types. This is typically done using .proto files.
2. Compile .proto file: Use the compiler provided by Protobuf to compile the .proto file into code in the target language. Protobuf supports various programming languages such as Java, C++, Python, etc.
3. By using the generated code, you can perform serialization and deserialization operations on message classes in the program. The generated code offers a convenient API that allows for easy conversion of message objects to binary data or parsing binary data into message objects.
4. Serialization: Using the generated code, convert the message object into binary data. Encode the field values of the message object into binary format by calling the serialization method provided by the generated code.
5. Deserialization: Using the generated code, parse the binary data into message objects. By calling the deserialization method provided by the generated code, parse the binary data into the field values of message objects.
6. Process message data: Handle message objects according to business requirements. It may involve reading, modifying, or creating new message objects.

Advantages of using Protobuf include efficient serialization and deserialization speed, support for cross-platform and cross-language data exchange, high readability, and easy scalability.