Question 1

How much faster is MessagePack compared to JSON in C++?

Accepted Answer

MessagePack typically offers 2-5x faster serialization and smaller payloads due to binary encoding. For instance, integers encode into fewer bytes, reducing parsing time and bandwidth usage in network applications.

Question 2

How to install msgpack-c on Windows with Visual Studio?

Accepted Answer

Clone the repository from GitHub, use CMake to generate project files, and build the library. Alternatively, package managers like vcpkg offer msgpack-c, but setup can require manual configuration for C vs C++ versions.

Question 3

Is MessagePack safe for use in network protocols?

Accepted Answer

While efficient, MessagePack lacks built-in security features like encryption or validation. You must implement data integrity checks and sanitize inputs to prevent parsing vulnerabilities, similar to other binary formats.

Question 4

MessagePack or JSON for a REST API in C++?

Accepted Answer

Choose JSON if human readability and web compatibility are key; MessagePack is better for internal microservices or high-performance endpoints where speed and size matter more than readability.

Question 5

How to serialize custom classes in C++ with msgpack-c?

Accepted Answer

Use the MSGPACK_DEFINE macro to mark class members for serialization, then call msgpack::pack for encoding. The library provides templates, but requires careful handling of pointer types and nested structures.

Question 6

Does MessagePack support streaming large datasets?

Accepted Answer

Yes, msgpack-c supports incremental packing/unpacking via streams, but you need to manage memory and error handling manually, as it doesn't include high-level abstractions for chunked data.

MessagePack

What is MessagePack?

Overview

Use Cases

Best For

Related Projects

Found a gem we're missing?

Not Ideal For

Pros & Cons

Pros

Cons

Frequently Asked Questions