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Protobuf VS PostGraphile

Compare Protobuf VS PostGraphile and see what are their differences

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Contents:
  1. » Base Details
  2. » Videos
  3. » Reviews
  4. » Alternatives

Protobuf logo Protobuf

Protocol buffers are a language-neutral, platform-neutral extensible mechanism for serializing structured data.

PostGraphile logo PostGraphile

GraphQL API for Postgres
  • Protobuf Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-29
  • PostGraphile Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-12-23

Protobuf features and specs

  • Efficient Serialization
    Protobuf is known for its high efficiency in serializing structured data. It is faster and produces smaller size messages compared to JSON or XML, making it ideal for bandwidth-limited and resource-constrained environments.
  • Language Support
    Protobuf supports multiple programming languages including Java, C++, Python, Ruby, and Go. This makes it versatile and useful in heterogeneous environments.
  • Versioning Support
    It natively supports schema evolution without breaking existing implementations. Fields can be added or removed over time, ensuring backward and forward compatibility.
  • Type Safety
    Being a strongly typed data format, Protobuf ensures that data is correctly typed across different systems, preventing serialization and deserialization errors common with loosely typed formats.

Possible disadvantages of Protobuf

  • Learning Curve
    Protobuf requires learning and understanding its schema definitions and compiler usage, which might be a challenge for new developers.
  • Lack of Human Readability
    Serialized Protobuf data is in a binary format, making it less readable and debuggable compared to JSON or XML without specialized tools.
  • Limited Built-in Support for Complex Data Types
    By default, Protobuf does not provide comprehensive support for handling complex data types like maps or unions compared to some other data serialization formats, requiring workarounds.
  • Tooling Requirement
    Using Protobuf necessitates a compilation step where `.proto` files are converted into code, requiring additional tooling and build system integration.

PostGraphile features and specs

  • Automatic API Generation
    PostGraphile automatically generates a GraphQL API from a PostgreSQL database, simplifying the development process by eliminating the need to manually create API endpoints.
  • Efficient Performance
    PostGraphile is optimized for performance, offering features like query planning and batching to ensure that it handles large and complex queries efficiently.
  • Rapid Prototyping
    The tool enables rapid prototyping by quickly turning a database schema into a working API, which is useful for testing ideas and building MVPs.
  • Feature Rich
    PostGraphile supports various advanced features out-of-the-box, such as real-time updates with subscriptions, advanced filtering, and pagination.
  • Strong PostgreSQL Integration
    Being specifically designed for PostgreSQL, PostGraphile provides deep integration with PostgreSQL features, making it possible to leverage database functions, views, and security features directly.

Possible disadvantages of PostGraphile

  • Steep Learning Curve
    While powerful, PostGraphile can be complex to learn, especially for developers unfamiliar with PostgreSQL or GraphQL, due to its extensive configuration options and feature set.
  • Limited to PostgreSQL
    PostGraphile is designed to work specifically with PostgreSQL, which means it cannot be used with other databases like MySQL or MongoDB, limiting its applicability in diverse tech stacks.
  • Overhead for Simple Applications
    For simple applications, the advanced features and automatic generation can create unnecessary overhead, potentially complicating simple CRUD operations.
  • Less Control Over SQL
    Since automatic GraphQL generation is based on the database schema, developers may have less fine-grained control over the SQL queries that are generated, which can be a limitation for highly optimized or specific query requirements.
  • Dependency on Database Schema
    Changes in the database schema directly affect the API, which can be a drawback if the schema evolves frequently, requiring more cautious database management to ensure API stability.

Protobuf videos

+ Add

StreamBerry, part 2 : introduction to Google ProtoBuf

PostGraphile videos

+ Add

Full-Stack Developer talks PostGraphile, GraphQL, Angular and Philosophy of Developing!

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Protobuf and PostGraphile)

Protobuf

PostGraphile

Configuration Management
100 100%
Configuration Management
0% 0
Realtime Backend / API
0 0%
Realtime Backend / API
100% 100
Mobile Apps
100 100%
Mobile Apps
0% 0
GraphQL
0 0%
GraphQL
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Protobuf seems to be a lot more popular than PostGraphile. While we know about 84 links to Protobuf, we've tracked only 1 mention of PostGraphile. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Protobuf mentions (84)

  • gRPC vs REST
    gRPC is strictly contract first11 which is a design approach that works especially well in larger development teams. It also excels when developing microservices, as a contract would be created before any actual implementations can be done. The contract is designed in the .proto file12, which is also where gRPC gains some of its speed from, seeing as .proto files are... - Source: dev.to / almost 3 years ago
  • JSON vs Protocol Buffers vs FlatBuffers: A Deep Dive
    Protocol Buffers, developed by Google, is a compact and efficient binary serialization format designed for high-performance data exchange. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Developing games on and for Mac and Linux
    Protocol Buffers: https://developers.google.com/protocol-buffers. - Source: dev.to / over 3 years ago
  • Adding Codable conformance to Union with Metaprogramming
    ProtocolBuffers’ OneOf message addresses the case of having a message with many fields where at most one field will be set at the same time. - Source: dev.to / almost 4 years ago
  • Logcat is awful. What would you improve?
    That's definitely the bigger thing. I think something like Protocol Buffers (Protobuf) is what you're looking for there. Output the data and consume it by something that can handle the analysis. Source: over 3 years ago
View more

PostGraphile mentions (1)

  • [Question] What will it take to create an automated graphQL API with Elixir?
    There are tools like Hasura/Haskell, Postgraphile/Node.js or Graphjin/Golang that could generate an automatic graphQL API from a Postgres database. Im new to Elixir and really love it. I wonder if there is anything similar these. I heard about Absinthe for graphQL, however as far as I understand it requires to write your own resolvers. What will it take to create a similar tool in Elixir like the one stated above?... Source: almost 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Protobuf and PostGraphile, you can also consider the following products

gRPC - Application and Data, Languages & Frameworks, Remote Procedure Call (RPC), and Service Discovery

Hasura - Hasura is an open platform to build scalable app backends, offering a built-in database, search, user-management and more.

Apache Thrift - An interface definition language and communication protocol for creating cross-language services.

GraphQL - GraphQL is a data query language and runtime to request and deliver data to mobile and web apps.

Messagepack - An efficient binary serialization format.

Oracle PL/SQL - PL/SQL is Oracle's procedural extension to industry-standard SQL.

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