1 Protocol Buffers - Google's data interchange format
2 ===================================================
4 Copyright 2008 Google Inc.
6 https://developers.google.com/protocol-buffers/
9 -----------------------
11 To compile or install protobuf from source using CMake, see
12 [cmake/README.md](../cmake/README.md).
15 -----------------------
17 To build protobuf from source, the following tools are needed:
24 On Ubuntu/Debian, for example, you can install them with:
26 sudo apt-get install g++ git bazel
28 On other platforms, please use the corresponding package managing tool to
29 install them before proceeding. See https://bazel.build/install for further
30 instructions on installing Bazel, or to build from source using CMake, see
31 [cmake/README.md](../cmake/README.md). See https://github.com/abseil/abseil-cpp
32 for instructions on installing Abseil.
34 To get the source, download the release .tar.gz or .zip package in the
37 https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/releases/latest
39 You can also get the source by "git clone" our git repository. Make sure you
40 have also cloned the submodules and generated the configure script (skip this
41 if you are using a release .tar.gz or .zip package):
43 git clone https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf.git
45 git submodule update --init --recursive
47 To build the C++ Protocol Buffer runtime and the Protocol Buffer compiler
48 (protoc) execute the following:
50 bazel build :protoc :protobuf
52 The compiler can then be installed, for example on Linux:
54 cp bazel-bin/protoc /usr/local/bin
56 For more usage information on Bazel, please refer to http://bazel.build.
58 **Compiling dependent packages**
60 To compile a package that uses Protocol Buffers, you need to setup a Bazel
61 WORKSPACE that's hooked up to the protobuf repository and loads its
62 dependencies. For an example, see [WORKSPACE](../examples/WORKSPACE).
64 **Note for Mac users**
66 For a Mac system, Unix tools are not available by default. You will first need
67 to install Xcode from the Mac AppStore and then run the following command from
70 sudo xcode-select --install
72 To install Unix tools, you can install "port" following the instructions at
73 https://www.macports.org . This will reside in /opt/local/bin/port for most
76 sudo /opt/local/bin/port install bazel
78 Alternative for Homebrew users:
82 Then follow the Unix instructions above.
85 C++ Protobuf - Windows
86 --------------------------
88 If you only need the protoc binary, you can download it from the release
91 https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/releases/latest
93 In the downloads section, download the zip file protoc-$VERSION-win32.zip.
94 It contains the protoc binary as well as public proto files of protobuf
97 Protobuf and its dependencies can be installed directly by using `vcpkg`:
99 >vcpkg install protobuf protobuf:x64-windows
101 If zlib support is desired, you'll also need to install the zlib feature:
103 >vcpkg install protobuf[zlib] protobuf[zlib]:x64-windows
105 See https://github.com/Microsoft/vcpkg for more information.
107 To build from source using Microsoft Visual C++, see [cmake/README.md](../cmake/README.md).
109 To build from source using Cygwin or MinGW, follow the Unix installation
112 Binary Compatibility Warning
113 ----------------------------
115 Due to the nature of C++, it is unlikely that any two versions of the
116 Protocol Buffers C++ runtime libraries will have compatible ABIs.
117 That is, if you linked an executable against an older version of
118 libprotobuf, it is unlikely to work with a newer version without
119 re-compiling. This problem, when it occurs, will normally be detected
120 immediately on startup of your app. Still, you may want to consider
121 using static linkage. You can configure this in your `cc_binary` Bazel rules
129 The complete documentation for Protocol Buffers is available via the
132 https://protobuf.dev/