README.md
1# serde\_bytes [](https://travis-ci.org/serde-rs/bytes) [](https://crates.io/crates/serde_bytes)
2
3Wrapper types to enable optimized handling of `&[u8]` and `Vec<u8>`.
4
5```toml
6[dependencies]
7serde_bytes = "0.11"
8```
9
10## Explanation
11
12Without specialization, Rust forces Serde to treat `&[u8]` just like any
13other slice and `Vec<u8>` just like any other vector. In reality this
14particular slice and vector can often be serialized and deserialized in a
15more efficient, compact representation in many formats.
16
17When working with such a format, you can opt into specialized handling of
18`&[u8]` by wrapping it in `serde_bytes::Bytes` and `Vec<u8>` by wrapping it
19in `serde_bytes::ByteBuf`.
20
21Additionally this crate supports the Serde `with` attribute to enable efficient
22handling of `&[u8]` and `Vec<u8>` in structs without needing a wrapper type.
23
24## Example
25
26```rust
27use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
28
29#[derive(Deserialize, Serialize)]
30struct Efficient<'a> {
31 #[serde(with = "serde_bytes")]
32 bytes: &'a [u8],
33
34 #[serde(with = "serde_bytes")]
35 byte_buf: Vec<u8>,
36}
37```
38
39<br>
40
41#### License
42
43<sup>
44Licensed under either of <a href="LICENSE-APACHE">Apache License, Version
452.0</a> or <a href="LICENSE-MIT">MIT license</a> at your option.
46</sup>
47
48<br>
49
50<sub>
51Unless you explicitly state otherwise, any contribution intentionally submitted
52for inclusion in this crate by you, as defined in the Apache-2.0 license, shall
53be dual licensed as above, without any additional terms or conditions.
54</sub>
55
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