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XML VS Protobuf

Compare XML VS Protobuf and see what are their differences

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

XML logo XML

Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language that defines a set of rules for encoding...

Protobuf logo Protobuf

Protocol buffers are a language-neutral, platform-neutral extensible mechanism for serializing structured data.
  • XML Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-06-20
  • Protobuf Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-29

XML features and specs

No features have been listed yet.

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.

XML videos

+ Add

What is XML | XML Beginner Tutorial | Learn XML with Demo in 10 min

More videos:

  • Review - XML REview
  • Review - oXygen XML Editor - Review Panel

Protobuf videos

+ Add

StreamBerry, part 2 : introduction to Google ProtoBuf

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to XML and Protobuf)

XML

Protobuf

Software Development
100 100%
Software Development
0% 0
Configuration Management
23 23%
Configuration Management
77% 77
Mobile Apps
0 0%
Mobile Apps
100% 100
Developer Tools
100 100%
Developer Tools
0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using XML and Protobuf. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Protobuf seems to be more popular. 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.

XML mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of XML yet. Tracking of XML recommendations started around Mar 2021.

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 XML and Protobuf, you can also consider the following products

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

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

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

Messagepack - An efficient binary serialization format.

TOML - TOML - Tom's Obvious, Minimal Language

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

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