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authorProfpatsch <mail@profpatsch.de>2021-01-23T15·32+0100
committerProfpatsch <mail@profpatsch.de>2021-01-23T15·33+0000
commit222016a174ba08842d3c80cede846c284c7cb035 (patch)
treea5b26d6cebf677a6e2cbc8169e7ab304a7f8dfb3
parentcc3f54a0eedb579c2ffd76f0505af0ccf940f9ff (diff)
feat(users/Profpatsch/netstring): add README r/2138
Change-Id: I2b5e74f376ac2212ec12fd85267e115621095639
Reviewed-on: https://cl.tvl.fyi/c/depot/+/2432
Reviewed-by: Profpatsch <mail@profpatsch.de>
Tested-by: BuildkiteCI
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+# Netstring
+
+Netstrings are a djb invention. They are intended as a serialization format. Instead of inline control characters like `\n` or `\0` to signal the end of a string, they use a run-length encoding given as the number of bytes, encoded in ASCII, at the beginning of the string.
+
+```
+hello -> 5:hello,
+foo! -> 4:foo!,
+こんにちは -> 15:こんにちは,
+```
+
+They can be used to encode e.g. lists by simply concatenating and reading them in one-by-one.
+
+If you need a more complex encoding, you could start encoding e.g. tuples as netstrings-in-netstrings, or you could use [`netencode`](../netcencode/spec.md) instead, which is what-if-json-but-netstrings, and takes the idea of netstrings to their logical conclusion.
+
+Resources:
+
+Spec: http://cr.yp.to/proto/netstrings.txt
+Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netstring