rust-protobuf

Protobuf implementation in Rust.

• Written in pure rust
• Generate rust code
• Has runtime library for generated code (Coded{Input|Output}Stream impl)

How to use rust-protobuf

0) Install protobuf for protoc binary.

On OS X Homebrew can be used:

brew install protobuf

On Ubuntu, protobuf-compiler package can be installed:

apt-get install protobuf-compiler

Protobuf is needed only for code generation, rust-protobuf runtime does not use protobuf library.

1) Install protoc-gen-rust program (which is protoc plugin)

It can be installed either from source or with cargo install protobuf command.

2) Add protoc-gen-rust to $PATH

If you installed it with cargo, it should be

PATH="$HOME/.cargo/bin:$PATH"

3) Generate .rs files:

protoc --rust_out . foo.proto

This will generate .rs files in current directory.

4) Add rust-protobuf as dependency to your project Cargo.toml:

[dependencies.protobuf]

5) Include generated files into your project .rs file:

extern crate protobuf; // depend on rust-protobuf runtime mod foo; // add generated file to the project

Generated code

Have a look at generated files, used internally in rust-protobuf:

• descriptor.rs for descriptor.proto (that is part of Google protobuf)

TODO

• Implement some rust-specific options
• Deal better with namespaces
• Protobuf reflection
• Extensions
• Generate stubs for services