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TOML VS Protobuf

Compare TOML VS Protobuf and see what are their differences

TOML logo TOML

TOML - Tom's Obvious, Minimal Language

Protobuf logo Protobuf

Protocol buffers are a language-neutral, platform-neutral extensible mechanism for serializing structured data.
  • TOML Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-22
  • Protobuf Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-29

TOML features and specs

  • Human Readable
    TOML is designed to be easy to read and write due to its simplistic syntax, which is intuitive for humans.
  • Explicit Data Types
    TOML supports various data types including integers, floats, strings, dates, and arrays, which helps in expressing configurations precisely.
  • Hierarchical Configuration
    Allows for nested key-value pairs through its table and array of tables structures, providing a clear way to represent hierarchical data.
  • Standardized Specification
    TOML is guided by a well-defined specification which ensures consistency across different implementations.
  • Lightweight
    It is a minimal and straightforward format that doesn’t require much overhead compared to some other configuration formats.

Possible disadvantages of TOML

  • Limited Complex Data Structures
    TOML is not suited for highly complex data structures, which might make it less ideal for certain advanced configurations.
  • Lacks Scalability Features
    With limited support for advanced features such as conditional configuration or dynamic data, it might not scale well for very large configurations.
  • Not as Widely Adopted
    Compared to formats like JSON or YAML, TOML may have less community support and fewer libraries and tools available across various programming environments.
  • No Native Implementation in Some Languages
    Certain programming environments do not offer native TOML parsing support, requiring third-party libraries which might affect performance or security.

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.

TOML videos

JuliaCon 2019 | Pkg, Project.toml, Manifest.toml and Environments | Fredrik Ekre

More videos:

  • Review - TOML Decoder: The Beginning

Protobuf videos

StreamBerry, part 2 : introduction to Google ProtoBuf

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to TOML and Protobuf)
Configuration Management
45 45%
55% 55
Developer Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Mobile Apps
24 24%
76% 76
Software Development
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Protobuf should be more popular than TOML. It has been mentiond 83 times since March 2021. 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.

TOML mentions (11)

  • Let's meet Black: Python Code Formatting
    Black uses by default the pyproject.toml file. This file contains a section for each different tool we want to use. The use of a configuration file like pyproject.toml is quite a good choice and helps the contributors to use the same tools and configurations you're using. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • ML Configuration Management
    Accessing the rest of the relevant variables is based on the various sections in the toml file. For example, referencing the Production Service Account (SA) will be by accessing the SERVICE_ACCOUNT variable which is under the [prd] section. - Source: dev.to / almost 3 years ago
  • Get good Git info from Hugo
    In your project config file, set enableGitInfo to true (here, I’m showing the Hugo default of TOML, although my own config file is actually YAML):. - Source: dev.to / about 3 years ago
  • json, please...
    For config file use case I cannot recommend enough TOML. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Turn Visual Studio Code Into A Top-Notch JavaScript IDE With These 25 Extensions
    TOML is a configuration file format that aims to be simple and easily readable. The Even Better TOML extension adds full editor support, including syntax highlighting, folding, navigation, and formatting. - Source: dev.to / over 3 years ago
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Protobuf mentions (83)

  • 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 / 3 months ago
  • Developing games on and for Mac and Linux
    Protocol Buffers: https://developers.google.com/protocol-buffers. - Source: dev.to / over 2 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 / over 2 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 2 years ago
  • Bitcoin is the "narrow waist" of internet-based value
    These protocols prevent an O(N x M) explosion of code that have to solve for many cases. For example, since JSON is an almost ubiquitous format for wire transfer (although other things do exist like protobufs), if I had N data formats that I want to serialize, I only need to write N serializers/deserializers (SerDes). If there was no such narrow waist and there were M alternatives to JSON in wide usage, I would... Source: over 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

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

JSON - (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight data-interchange format

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

YAML - YAML 1.2 --- YAML: YAML Ain't Markup Language

Messagepack - An efficient binary serialization format.

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

Dhall Configuration Language - A non-repetitive alternative to YAML