Serialization Skill

Expert skill for binary and text serialization formats, schema design, and performance optimization.

Capabilities

• Protocol Buffers: Generate Protocol Buffer schemas and code for multiple languages
• FlatBuffers: Design FlatBuffers schemas for zero-copy deserialization
• MessagePack/CBOR: Implement MessagePack and CBOR binary encoding
• Performance Analysis: Analyze and compare serialization performance
• Format Comparison: Compare serialization formats for specific use cases
• Deserialization Debugging: Debug deserialization issues and version mismatches
• Payload Optimization: Optimize payload sizes and encoding efficiency
• Schema Evolution: Handle backward/forward compatible schema changes

Tools and Dependencies

• protoc - Protocol Buffer compiler
• flatc - FlatBuffers compiler
• msgpack-tools - MessagePack utilities
• cbor-tools - CBOR utilities
• capnp - Cap'n Proto compiler
• avro-tools - Apache Avro utilities

Target Processes

• binary-protocol-parser.js
• custom-protocol-design.js
• message-framing.js
• websocket-server.js

Usage Examples

Protocol Buffers Schema

protobuf
syntax = "proto3";
package network;

message Packet {
  uint32 sequence = 1;
  bytes payload = 2;
  int64 timestamp = 3;
  map<string, string> headers = 4;
}

FlatBuffers Schema

fbs
namespace Network;

table Packet {
  sequence: uint32;
  payload: [ubyte];
  timestamp: int64;
  headers: [KeyValue];
}

table KeyValue {
  key: string;
  value: string;
}

root_type Packet;

Code Generation

bash
protoc --python_out=. --go_out=. packet.proto
flatc --python --go packet.fbs

Performance Benchmarking

bash
hyperfine 'protoc-bench encode message.proto' 'msgpack-bench encode message.json'

Quality Gates

• Schema validation passes
• Backward compatibility verified
• Performance benchmarks met
• Cross-language interoperability tested
• Payload size within requirements