commonware-codec

Serialize structured data.

Status

commonware-codec is ALPHA software and is not yet recommended for production use. Developers should expect breaking changes and occasional instability.

lib.rs:

Serialize structured data.

Overview

A binary serialization library designed to efficiently and safely:

• Serialize structured data into a binary format
• Deserialize untrusted binary input into structured data

Supported Types

Natively supports:

• Primitives: u8, u16, u32, u64, i8, i16, i32, i64, f32, f64, bool
• Collections: Vec<T>, Option<T>, tuples, and fixed-size arrays like [u8; N]
• Recursive serialization of nested structs and enums via trait implementations

User-defined types can be serialized and deserialized by implementing the Codec trait. For types with a constant encoded size, optionally implement the SizedCodec trait.

Example

use commonware_codec::{Codec, Reader, Writer, Error};

// Define a custom struct
#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq)]
struct Point {
    xy: (u64, u64),
    z: Option<u32>,
    metadata: [u8; 11],
}

// Implement the Codec trait
impl Codec for Point {
    fn write(&self, writer: &mut impl Writer) {
        // Basic types can be written by inferring the type
        self.xy.write(writer);
        self.z.write(writer);
        self.metadata.write(writer);
    }

    fn read(reader: &mut impl Reader) -> Result<Self, Error> {
        // Basic types can be inferred by the return type
        let xy = <(u64, u64)>::read(reader)?;
        let z = <Option<u32>>::read(reader)?;
        let metadata = <[u8; 11]>::read(reader)?;
        Ok(Self { xy, z, metadata })
    }

    fn len_encoded(&self) -> usize {
      self.xy.len_encoded() + self.z.len_encoded() + self.metadata.len_encoded()
    }
}