rust-protobuf

Protobuf implementation in Rust.

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

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

1. Checkout rust-protobuf sources:

git clone git@github.com:stepancheg/rust-protobuf.git -b <branch>

Where branch is:

• master compatible rust master
• rust-M.N compatible with rust version M.N.*, e.g. rust-0.11 for rust 0.11.0

2. Compile the project:

cargo build

protoc-gen-rust binary is generated in target/ folder. protoc-gen-rust is a rust plugin for protoc.

3. Add protoc-gen-rust to $PATH:

PATH="`pwd`/target/debug:$PATH"

4. Generate .rs files:

protoc --rust_out . foo.proto

This will generate .rs files in current directory.

Same procedure is used to regenerate .rs files for rust-protobuf itself, see ./regerate.sh.

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

[dependencies.protobuf]

git = "https://github.com/stepancheg/rust-protobuf.git"

6. 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