Protobuffers Are Wrong

5 days ago

Copy Link

Protobuffers are criticized for being poorly designed and built by amateurs.
The type-system in protobuffers is described as terrible and unprincipled.
Protobuffers lack compositionality, with features that don't work well together.
Questionable design choices include the handling of scalar vs. message types and the behavior of optional fields.
Protobuffers' claim to backwards- and forwards-compatibility is criticized as being permissive rather than robust.
The use of protobuffers can contaminate codebases, making them rigid and hard to work with.
The article suggests that protobuffers are not suitable for most companies, especially those not at Google's scale.

Hasty Briefsbeta