Google's Data Interchange format better than XML? (The Googlization of Everything)

A number of readers have noted Google's open sourcing of their internal data interchange format, called Protocol Buffers (here's the code and the doc). Google elevator statement for Protocol Buffers is "a language-neutral, platform-neutral, extensible way of serializing structured data for use in communications protocols, data storage, and more." It's the way data is formatted to move around inside of Google. Betanews spotlights some of Protocol Buffers' contrasts with XML and IDL, with which it is most comparable. Google's blogger claims, "And, yes, it is very fast — at least an order of magnitude faster than XML."

Anyone want to translate this for me? What are the short- and long-term consequences here?

Filed under: All the World's Information
Posted by Siva Vaidhyanathan, July 11, 2008 10:32 AM

Comments (1)

James Grimmelmann on July 11, 2008 11:59 AM:

Google's overview is pretty good on what its protocol buffers are, and on their advantages and disadvantages.

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Siva Vaidhyanathan

This blog, the result of a collaboration between myself and the Institute for the Future of the Book, is dedicated to exploring the process of writing a critical interpretation of the actions and intentions behind the cultural behemoth that is Google, Inc. The book will answer three key questions: What does the world look like through the lens of Google?; How is Google's ubiquity affecting the production and dissemination of knowledge?; and how has the corporation altered the rules and practices that govern other companies, institutions, and states? [more]

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