1 // Copyright 2019 The Go Authors. All rights reserved.
2 // Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
3 // license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
4 5 // Package proto provides functions operating on protocol buffer messages.
6 //
7 // For documentation on protocol buffers in general, see:
8 // https://protobuf.dev.
9 //
10 // For a tutorial on using protocol buffers with Go, see:
11 // https://protobuf.dev/getting-started/gotutorial.
12 //
13 // For a guide to generated Go protocol buffer code, see:
14 // https://protobuf.dev/reference/go/go-generated.
15 //
16 // # Binary serialization
17 //
18 // This package contains functions to convert to and from the wire format,
19 // an efficient binary serialization of protocol buffers.
20 //
21 // - [Size] reports the size of a message in the wire format.
22 //
23 // - [Marshal] converts a message to the wire format.
24 // The [MarshalOptions] type provides more control over wire marshaling.
25 //
26 // - [Unmarshal] converts a message from the wire format.
27 // The [UnmarshalOptions] type provides more control over wire unmarshaling.
28 //
29 // # Basic message operations
30 //
31 // - [Clone] makes a deep copy of a message.
32 //
33 // - [Merge] merges the content of a message into another.
34 //
35 // - [Equal] compares two messages. For more control over comparisons
36 // and detailed reporting of differences, see package
37 // [google.golang.org/protobuf/testing/protocmp].
38 //
39 // - [Reset] clears the content of a message.
40 //
41 // - [CheckInitialized] reports whether all required fields in a message are set.
42 //
43 // # Optional scalar constructors
44 //
45 // The API for some generated messages represents optional scalar fields
46 // as pointers to a value. For example, an optional string field has the
47 // Go type *string.
48 //
49 // - [Bool], [Int32], [Int64], [Uint32], [Uint64], [Float32], [Float64], and [String]
50 // take a value and return a pointer to a new instance of it,
51 // to simplify construction of optional field values.
52 //
53 // Generated enum types usually have an Enum method which performs the
54 // same operation.
55 //
56 // Optional scalar fields are only supported in proto2.
57 //
58 // # Extension accessors
59 //
60 // - [HasExtension], [GetExtension], [SetExtension], and [ClearExtension]
61 // access extension field values in a protocol buffer message.
62 //
63 // Extension fields are only supported in proto2.
64 //
65 // # Related packages
66 //
67 // - Package [google.golang.org/protobuf/encoding/protojson] converts messages to
68 // and from JSON.
69 //
70 // - Package [google.golang.org/protobuf/encoding/prototext] converts messages to
71 // and from the text format.
72 //
73 // - Package [google.golang.org/protobuf/reflect/protoreflect] provides a
74 // reflection interface for protocol buffer data types.
75 //
76 // - Package [google.golang.org/protobuf/testing/protocmp] provides features
77 // to compare protocol buffer messages with the [github.com/google/go-cmp/cmp]
78 // package.
79 //
80 // - Package [google.golang.org/protobuf/types/dynamicpb] provides a dynamic
81 // message type, suitable for working with messages where the protocol buffer
82 // type is only known at runtime.
83 //
84 // This module contains additional packages for more specialized use cases.
85 // Consult the individual package documentation for details.
86 package proto
87