Added README (#34)

* Added README

* Addressed review comments

Author: JohanMabille

README.md

@@ -1 +1,135 @@
-# sparrow-ipc
+# sparrow-ipc
+
+[![GHA Linux](https://github.com/quantstack/sparrow-ipc/actions/workflows/linux.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/quantstack/sparrow-ipc/actions/workflows/linux.yml)
+[![GHA OSX](https://github.com/quantstack/sparrow-ipc/actions/workflows/osx.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/quantstack/sparrow-ipc/actions/workflows/osx.yml)
+[![GHA Windows](https://github.com/quantstack/sparrow-ipc/actions/workflows/windows.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/quantstack/sparrow-ipc/actions/workflows/windows.yml)
+
+**!!!Sparrow-IPC is still under development and is not ready for production use!!!**
+
+**!!!The documentation is still under development and may be incomplete or contain errors!!!**
+
+## Introduction
+
+`sparrow-ipc` provides high-performance serialization and deserialization of record batches, adhering to both [sparrow](https://github.com/man-group/sparrow) and [Apache Arrow IPC specifications](https://arrow.apache.org/docs/format/Columnar.html#serialization-and-interprocess-communication-ipc).
+
+`sparrow-ipc` requires a modern C++ compiler supporting C++20.
+
+## Installation
+
+
+### Install from sources
+
+`sparrow-ipc` has a few dependencies that you can install in a mamba environment:
+
+```bash
+mamba env create -f environment-dev.yml
+mamba activate sparrow-ipc
+```
+
+You can then create a build directory, and build the project and install it with cmake:
+
+```bash
+mkdir build
+de build
+cmake .. \
+    -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug \
+          -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$CONDA_PREFIX \
+          -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=$CONDA_PREFIX \
+          -DSPARROW_IPC_BUILD_TESTS=ON \
+          -DSPARROW_IPC_BUILD_EXAMPLES=ON
+
+make install
+```
+
+## Usage
+
+### Requirements
+
+Compilers:
+- Clang 18 or higher
+- GCC 11.2 or higher
+- Apple Clang 16 or higher
+- MSVC 19.41 or higher
+
+### Serialize record batches to a memory stream
+
+```cpp
+#include <vector>
+#include <sparrow_ipc/memory_output_stream.hpp>
+#include <sparrow_ipc/serializer.hpp>
+#include <sparrow/record_batch.hpp>
+
+namespace sp = sparrow;
+namespace sp_ipc = sparrow_ipc;
+
+std::vector<uint8_t> serialize_batches_to_stream(const std::vector<sp::record_batch>& batches)
+{
+    std::vector<uint8_t> stream_data;
+    sp_ipc::memory_output_stream stream(stream_data);
+    sp_ipc::serializer serializer(stream);
+
+    // Serialize all batches using the streaming operator
+    serializer << batches << sp_ipc::end_stream;
+
+    return stream_data;
+}
+```
+
+### Pipe a source of record batches to a stream
+
+```cpp
+#include <optional>
+#include <ostream>
+#include <vector>
+#include <sparrow_ipc/memory_output_stream.hpp>
+#include <sparrow_ipc/serializer.hpp>
+#include <sparrow/record_batch.hpp>
+
+namespace sp = sparrow;
+
+class record_batch_source
+{
+public:
+    std::optional<sp::record_batch> next();
+};
+
+void stream_record_batches(std::ostream& os, record_batch_source& source)
+{
+    sp::serializer serial(os);
+    std::optional<sp::record_batch> batch = std::nullopt;
+    while (batch = source.next())
+    {
+        serial << batch;
+    }
+    serial << sp_ipc::end_stream;
+}
+```
+
+### Deserialize a stream into record batches
+
+```cpp
+#include <vector>
+#include <sparrow_ipc/deserializer.hpp>
+#include <sparrow/record_batch.hpp>
+
+namespace sp = sparrow;
+namespace sp_ipc = sparrow_ipc;
+
+std::vector<sp::record_batch> deserialize_stream_to_batches(const std::vector<uint8_t>& stream_data)
+{
+    auto batches = sp_ipc::deserialize_stream(stream_data);
+    return batches;
+}
+```
+
+## Documentation
+
+The documentation (currently being written) can be found at https://quantstack.github.io/sparrow-ipc/index.html
+
+## Acknowledgements
+
+This project is developed by [QuantStack](quantstack.net), building on the foundations laid by the sparrow library and the Apache Arrow project.
+
+## License
+
+This software is licensed under the BSD-3-Clause license. See the [LICENSE](LICENSE) file for details.