I haven’t worked with protobufs, but I’m old enough to know why people thought they needed protobufs (because hand writing terse wire protocols is painfully dumb).
Be careful about “need”. When people are avoiding doing something painful they invent all sorts of rationalizations to try to avoid cognitive dissonance. You don’t reach for to tool that hurts to pick up. You reach for something else, and most do it subconsciously.
Nobody is going to try to read protobuf data. Doesn’t mean they don’t need to understand why the wire protocol fucked up.
Be careful about “need”. When people are avoiding doing something painful they invent all sorts of rationalizations to try to avoid cognitive dissonance. You don’t reach for to tool that hurts to pick up. You reach for something else, and most do it subconsciously.
Nobody is going to try to read protobuf data. Doesn’t mean they don’t need to understand why the wire protocol fucked up.