Open-source cross-platform data format used to serialize structured data

Protocol Buffers
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Protocol Buffers

  -  3.3 MB  -  Freeware
Free Download

Security Status

  • Latest Version

    Protocol Buffers 32.0 LATEST

  • Review by

    Daniel Leblanc

  • Operating System

    Windows 10 (64-bit) / Windows 11

  • User Rating

    Click to vote

  • Author / Product

    Google / External Link

  • Filename

    protoc-32.0-win64.zip

Protocol Buffers is an advanced programming utility developed by Google Inc that allows seasoned developers to reorganize the way they are serializing structured data.

Built from the ground up to recreate the functionality of XML in a smaller, faster, and simpler way, Protocol Buffers (also known as protobuf) has managed to prove itself as a platform-neutral, language-neutral, and highly modular programming mechanism that can process structured data in new and enticing ways.

With it, software developers are empowered to precisely define the way their data will be structured, create custom code with help of an automated code generation tool, and take full control over the ways data streams are written and read.

And the best thing yet, It can be managed with a wide array of programming languages, with direct support for code generation in Java, Python, Objective-C, and C++, and with extended support for Kotlin, Dart, Go, Ruby, and C# via the usage of proto3 language. Even more programming languages is slated to be added via future updates.

Programmers who are used to XML will find this new serializing structured data protocol easy to learn and integrate into their daily workflow. Google Protocol Buffers is notable for being smaller, faster, and simpler to use than XML, enabling enthusiasts to quickly set up their projects best fit their needs.

However, it should be noted that XML still supports more options and is therefore more versatile in projects that demand features that are not covered by this new Google solution.

For example, XML can help programmers interleave structure with text, helping them to model a text-based document with markup. Today, Google uses Protocol Buffers in almost all of their internal RPC protocol communication and file formats.

Protocol Buffers is perfect for enabling procedures that can read the structure from a wide variety of data streams (both writing and reading) and update those streams in real-time. This is especially important if the source data streams are generated by programs that can’t be easily updated to support new features that users want to infuse into the data stream they generate.

Protocol Buffers is distributed online as a compressed ZIP archive, requiring users to manually download, extract and use the console command style app on any modern PC.

How to Use
  • Set Up Environment Variables – Add the Protobuf compiler (protoc) to your system's PATH for easy access.
  • Define .proto Files – Create a .proto file to define message structures and services.
  • Compile .proto Files – Use the protoc command to generate language-specific source code (e.g., protoc --cpp_out=. example.proto).
  • Integrate with Code – Include the generated code in your application and use it to serialize/deserialize messages.
  • Use Protobuf Libraries – Install and use Protobuf libraries for your chosen programming language (e.g., protobuf for Python, com.google.protobuf for Java).
  • Serialize Data – Convert structured data into Protobuf binary format for efficient storage and transmission.
  • Deserialize Data – Read and decode Protobuf messages into human-readable or usable data structures.
  • Test with Protobuf Tools – Use tools like protoc --decode to manually test encoding and decoding.
  • Update .proto Files Carefully – Maintain backward compatibility by following Protobuf best practices when modifying message definitions.
PROS
  • Provides a fast and efficient way to serialize structured data
  • Supports multiple programming languages and platforms
  • Offers automatic code generation and versioning for compatibility
  • Allows for easy integration with other systems and applications
  • Offers backwards compatibility, enabling older clients to communicate with newer servers
CONS
  • May have a steeper learning curve for beginners due to its complexity
  • Requires manual compilation of code and installation of protobuf libraries
  • May require additional work for custom encoding and decoding of data


Download Protocol Buffers Latest Version
Why is this app published on FileHorse? (More info)

What's new in this version:

Bazel:
- Migrates some Java test protos using java_features.proto to edition 2024 (6f4a990)
- Add generated message reflection unittest for import option and option_deps test proto in edition 2024
- Replace the usage of cc_info.debug_context with _debug_context (776c5f2)
- Generate .pyi files in py_proto_library
- Introduce denylisted_protos as a preferred replacement for blacklisted_protos attribute
- Use native.proto_library for Bazel 7 and explicitly error for Bazel 6 which is incompatible and out of support
- Require ProtoInfo provider instead of proto_library rule for bazel cc_proto_library deps

Compiler:
- Strip extensions from option imports that are known in CollectExtensions due to polluted pool from protoc parse when used with protoc full + java built in generator
- Deprecate google.protobuf.Method.syntax and google.protobuf.Method.edition (9ec241e)
- Enable edition 2024 support in protoc and language generators for cpp, hpb, java, kotlin, objectivec, php, python, pyi, rust
- Ban import weak and weak field option in edition 2024 in protoc (parser and c++ runtime)

C++:
- Strip extensions from option imports that are known in CollectExtensions due to polluted pool from protoc parse when used with protoc full + java built in generator
- Manually migrate top-level protobuf unittest protos from edition 2023 to edition 2024
- Add generated message reflection unittest for import option and option_deps test proto in edition 2024
- Remove the flag requirement for Bazel+MSVC users
- Enable edition 2024 support in protoc and language generators for cpp, hpb, java, kotlin, objectivec, php, python, pyi, rust
- Cast GetCachedTID() to unsigned to prevent left-shifting a negative number
- Update comment at the top of message.h and message_lite.h to document that it should only be extended by gencode and not user code
- Treat warnings encountered in chromium builds as errors
- Ban import weak and weak field option in edition 2024 in protoc (parser and c++ runtime)

Java:
- Strip extensions from option imports that are known in CollectExtensions due to polluted pool from protoc parse when used with protoc full + java built in generator
- Remove CollectExtensions check banning unknown custom options since unknown custom options are now expected when using import option and option_deps which exclude the options from the "builder" pool (aka "import" pool)
- Manually migrate top-level protobuf unittest protos from edition 2023 to edition 2024
- Migrates some Java test protos using java_features.proto to edition 2024 (6f4a990)
- Restore compatibility of runtime with pre-3.22.x gencode impacted by CVE-2022-3171 (adf556f)
- Update our compiled_edition_default's maximum_edition to 2024
- Restore the long-deprecated static functions on TextFormat
- Add Kotlin class name helpers to names.h (527b2ab)
- Enable edition 2024 support in protoc and language generators for cpp, hpb, java, kotlin, objectivec, php, python, pyi, rust
- Update Java gencode base class documentation to clarify that it is not supported to extend them
- Add a FieldMaskUtil#trim overload that accepts TrimOptions and allows retaining unset primitive field state

Csharp:
- Update staleness (0014173)
- Manually migrate top-level protobuf unittest protos from edition 2023 to edition 2024
- Update our compiled_edition_default's maximum_edition to 2024
- Enable edition 2024 support in protoc and language generators for cpp, hpb, java, kotlin, objectivec, php, python, pyi, rust
- Include also ARM build of protoc in nuget package
- Improve C# handling of Any JSON serialization/deserialization (dc4e429)

Objective-C:
- Enable edition 2024 support in protoc and language generators for cpp, hpb, java, kotlin, objectivec, php, python, pyi, rust

Rust:
- Rust: remove DEP_UPB_VERSION check in codegen crate
- Enable edition 2024 support in protoc and language generators for cpp, hpb, java, kotlin, objectivec, php, python, pyi, rust
- Update Rust generator to output minidescriptors instead of C minitables (1b4b5fc)
- Add [clear_and_]parse_dont_enforce_required() to Rust protobuf
- Add #[non_exhaustive] on the oneof-case enum (aba2075)
- Impl Clone for RepeatedIter (aca1ed5)
- See also UPB changes below, which may affect Rust.

Python:
- Strip extensions from option imports that are known in CollectExtensions due to polluted pool from protoc parse when used with protoc full + java built in generator
- Manually migrate top-level protobuf unittest protos from edition 2023 to edition 2024
- Raise warnings for float_precision from python json_format
- Raise warnings when assign bool to int/enum
- Update python edition default maximum edition to 2024
- Make protobuf codebase compatible with --incompatible_config_setting_private_default_visibility
- Add Python deprecation warnings for Descriptor Label
- Updating setuptools to patch CVE-2025-47273
- Enable edition 2024 support in protoc and language generators for cpp, hpb, java, kotlin, objectivec, php, python, pyi, rust
- Extend gencode compatibility support back to 3.20.0 (1af7fd4)
- Change proto_api work with custom pool for upb and pure python
- Python pyi print "import datetime" for Duration/Timestamp field (f59b84a)
- Add reference leak check to Python well_known_types_test. Fix two refleak bugs
- Add reference leak check to Python timestamp_test and duration_test. Fix a refleak bug when assign datetime/duration to Timestamp/Duration (e004c8b)
- Add recursion depth limits to pure python (17838be)
- Remove calls to Label within Protobuf Python
- Change Python .pyi stubs to generated _Optional[] for bool fields same with (6972464)
- Remove internal/api_implementation.Version() (cbad456)
- Fix python proto_api to work with messages that required fields are not set
- Fix python upb crashes on map/repeated reference stub destructor (4274909)
- Mark Py JSON float_precision deprecated

PHP:
- Enable edition 2024 support in protoc and language generators for cpp, hpb, java, kotlin, objectivec, php, python, pyi, rust
- Fix(php): use count instead of ->count() to avoid bug in c-extension (9fbce62)
- [php][compiler][ext] - Add missing has* methods and other well known types
- Fix PHP 8.4 deprecation in GPBDecodeException

PHP C-Extension:
- Update our compiled_edition_default's maximum_edition to 2024
- Change 'getLabel is deprecated' to E_USER_DEPRECATED (158d8ac)
- [php][compiler][ext] - Add missing has* methods and other well known types
- See also UPB changes below, which may affect PHP C-Extension.

Ruby:
- Make protobuf codebase compatible with --incompatible_config_setting_private_default_visibility
- Enable edition 2024 support in protoc and language generators for cpp, hpb, java, kotlin, objectivec, php, python, pyi, rust
- Fix silent failure of rb_test rules to run test

Ruby C-Extension:
- Update our compiled_edition_default's maximum_edition to 2024
- Removed wrap_memcpy.c compatibility shim for pre-2.14 glibc (4ba9733)
- See also UPB changes below, which may affect Ruby C-Extension.

UPB (Python/PHP/Ruby C-Extension):
- Update our compiled_edition_default's maximum_edition to 2024
- Make protobuf codebase compatible with --incompatible_config_setting_private_default_visibility
- Add upb_Message_SetExtensionMessage as a helper for setting a extension field that is a message. This is the extension equivalent of upb_Message_SetBaseFieldMessage

Other:
- Update github major version tags to be formatted v..- for clarity (e001d57)
- Upgrade Abseil dependency to 20250512.1 (ee68ed1)
- Patch rules_ruby to apply neverlink = True to the jars rule

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