Using Modern C++ to Build XOffsetDatastructure - Zero-Encoding & Zero-Decoding Serialization Library

#cpp #cppcon

Using Modern C++ to Build XOffsetDatastructure: A Zero-Encoding and Zero-Decoding High-Performance Serialization Library in the Game Industry - Fanchen Su - CppCon 2024
Slides: https://github.com/CppCon/CppCon2024/blob/main/Presentations/Using_Modern_Cpp_to_Build_XOffsetDatastructure.pdf

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XOffsetDatastructure is a serialization library designed to reduce or even eliminate the performance consumption of serialization and deserialization in the game industry by utilizing zero-encoding and zero-decoding. It is also a collection of high-performance data structures designed for efficient read and in-place/non-in-place write, with performance comparable to STL.

Custom allocators are used to keep fields in contiguous memory, enabling them to be sent directly. Offset pointers are used to maintain pointer validity after buffer resizing and memory movement caused by modifications to variable-size fields. Some other techniques, such as containers that support offset pointers and auto-resizing mechanisms, are involved.

The performance statistics demonstrate that XOffsetDatastructure is a high-performance library, offering advantages in terms of encoding and decoding time, read and write performance, and message size compared to other modern C++ serialization libraries.

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Fanchen Su is a game research & development expert and team leader. He has over 20 years of experience in designing, writing, and maintaining C++ code. His main areas of interest and expertise are modern C++, code performance, low latency, and maintainability. He graduated from Wuhan University in 2012 with a Ph.D. in Computer Science.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agRbVcMkqTY