Protocol Buffers: The Contract and the Wire Format
Protocol Buffers are the foundation gRPC is built on — both the language you write your API contract in and the binary format your data travels as. A `.proto` file is a strict, versioned schema; the encoding is a compact, tag-based binary that's a fraction of JSON's size. Understanding both halves — the schema language and how it serializes — is what lets you design APIs that stay compatible as they evolve.
Protocol Buffers are gRPC's foundation — both the language you write your API contract in and the compact binary format your data travels as. A .proto file is a strict, versioned schema; the encoding is tag-based binary a fraction of JSON's size. Understanding both halves is what lets you design APIs that stay compatible as they evolve.