rust-protobuf
=============
[](https://travis-ci.org/stepancheg/rust-protobuf)
[](https://crates.io/crates/protobuf)
[](https://github.com/stepancheg/rust-protobuf/blob/master/LICENSE.txt)
[Protobuf](https://developers.google.com/protocol-buffers/docs/overview) implementation in [Rust](https://www.rust-lang.org/).
* 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](https://github.com/Homebrew/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](https://github.com/stepancheg/rust-protobuf/blob/master/src/lib/descriptor.rs)
for [descriptor.proto](https://github.com/stepancheg/rust-protobuf/blob/master/src/proto/google/protobuf/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