Protobuf V4
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Protobuf Editions replacing proto2/proto3.
Definition
Protobuf Editions (2023+) solves the historical proto2 (verbose, required/optional fields) vs proto3 (simpler, no required, defaults) problem. Edition 2023 (current default) combines the best of both. Per-file feature flags: json_format, repeated_field_encoding, utf8_validation, field_presence. Backward compatible with v3 via Edition Conversion.
Origin
Google, protobuf open-source 2008, proto3 2015, Editions 2023.
Usage
Standard for gRPC, internal Google APIs, very high-scale microservices. Competes with Avro and Cap'n Proto.