Search code examples
jsonxmlprotocol-buffersdata-entry

Protocol Buffers vs XML/JSON for data entry outside of programming effort

I would love to use protocol buffers, but I am not sure if they fit my use case. Here it is:

I have a Quiz app. This requires a bunch of data, like categories, questions, a list of answers (and which ones are correct). I do not want to be responsible for entering this data - I would prefer to pass it off to a non-programmer to serialize all this data for me, in either XML or JSON. Then my app would just read in the data file.

Does Google's Protocol Buffers fit my use case? Or should I stick to a more traditional format like XML or JSON?

Solution

  • I think not: Protobuf is a binary format. So then you would need to support a text format like XML or JSON and Protobuf.

    Also it does not seem you would benefit from Protobufs better berformance at all.