Protocol Buffers (protobuf) is a language-neutral, platform-neutral, extensible mechanism for serializing structured data. Developed by Google, it is widely adopted for its efficiency in data serialization, especially in scenarios where performance and portability are crucial. Protobuf offers a compact binary format, which reduces the size of the payload and improves the speed of data transmission compared to traditional text-based formats like JSON or XML.
In the context of the Tech Radar, protobuf is placed in the "adopt" ring under the "languages-and-frameworks" quadrant. This positioning reflects its maturity and widespread use in production environments where developers need a reliable, performant solution for data interchange between microservices, APIs, and other cross-platform systems. It provides strong typing, backward compatibility, and is supported by numerous programming languages, making it a versatile tool in modern software development.