RFC: ProtoCBOR specification #233
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JSON is a web-interchange format that is widely used but has inefficient space usage properties. The CBOR format (RFC8949) is a newer web standard for exchanging JSON-like objects with better encoding overheads. Whereas protocol buffers are still proprietary to Google, CBOR is an open standard. For platforms that provide multiple encodings of their messages through protoc for JSON and Protobuf, it is challenging to introduce a CBOR format without disruption unless CBOR is a supported target for the protocol buffer compiler. TODO: replace with link This proposal will come with a prototype implementation for Golang to prove the concept and engage the protocol buffer community to discuss whether full support across target languages is something they're willing to accept maintenance for, at least temporarily as a beta experiment for early adopters to try. The goal is to not merge this specification without first accepting the initial implementation. The initial implementation should not be merged until the flagship project that uses it (in-toto framework) demonstrates its correct behavior.
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JSON is a web-interchange format that is widely used but has inefficient space usage properties. The CBOR format (RFC8949) is a newer web standard for exchanging JSON-like objects with better encoding overheads.
Whereas protocol buffers are still proprietary to Google, CBOR is an open standard. For platforms that provide multiple encodings of their messages through protoc for JSON and Protobuf, it is challenging to introduce a CBOR format without disruption unless CBOR is a supported target for the protocol buffer compiler.
If this proposal is approved to move forward, this will come with a prototype implementation for Golang to prove the concept and engage the protocol buffer community to discuss whether full support across target languages is something they're willing to accept maintenance for, at least temporarily as a beta experiment for early adopters to try.
The goal is to not merge this specification without first accepting the initial implementation. The initial implementation should not be merged until the flagship project that uses it (in-toto framework) demonstrates its correct behavior.