The Power of Serialization in Rust
Rust’s strong point has always been serialization, thanks to the availability of Serde well before Rust 1.0.0. Serde’s innovative approach uses traits to decouple objects from serialization formats, making it a powerful and flexible solution. This approach allows users to easily serialize their objects using the #[derive(Serialize, Deserialize)] macro, regardless of the format.
The Benchmark: A Closer Look
To compare the performance of various serialization formats, we created a simple data structure, StoredData, and benchmarked its serialization and deserialization using different formats. Our benchmark measures the time it takes to compile, serialize, and deserialize the data structure.
Serde: The Incumbent
Serde is an elegant, flexible, and fast serialization/deserialization library. Its API has three facets: the Serialize and Deserialize traits, which bridge formats to data structures; the Serializer and Deserializer traits, which format crates need to implement; and the powerful derive macros that allow for tweaks to the output format.
Format Showdown: JSON, YAML, RON, and More
We benchmarked various formats, including JSON, YAML, RON, bincode, MessagePack, CBOR, jsonway, Postcard, FlexBuffers, and FlatBuffers. Each format has its strengths and weaknesses. For example, JSON is fast but takes up more space, while MessagePack is compact but slower to deserialize.
The Winners and Losers
Our benchmark results show that bincode is the fastest format for serialization and deserialization, while MessagePack offers the smallest serialized size. Postcard provides a good compromise between size and speed, making it suitable for embedded systems. FlatBuffers, on the other hand, are complex and take up more space than necessary.
Conclusion
Serialization is a strong point of Rust, thanks to mature and fast libraries like Serde. When choosing a format, consider your specific needs: speed, size, or readability. Our benchmark results provide a comprehensive comparison of various formats, helping you make an informed decision.