protobuf-example

Protobuf Example

This directory contains example code that uses Protocol Buffers to manage a list of users. The add.ts script adds a new user, prompting the user to input the person's information. The list.ts script lists users.

Note that this example can be easily implemented in other languages, because the serialization format is standardized. That means you could add a user to the list with Dart, and list people with TypeScript interchangeably.

Run the example

You need Node version 20.17.0 or later installed. Download the example project and install its dependencies:

curl -L https://github.com/bufbuild/protobuf-es/archive/refs/heads/main.zip > protobuf-es-main.zip
unzip protobuf-es-main.zip 'protobuf-es-main/packages/protobuf-example/*'

cd protobuf-es-main/packages/protobuf-example
npm install

To add a user:

npm run add

To list all users:

npm run list

Generate code

If you want to use the Buf CLI to generate the code, simply run npx buf generate in this directory. buf.gen.yaml contains the plugin configuration.

If you want to use protoc, the following command is equivalent:

protoc -I . --es_out=src/gen --es_opt=target=ts --plugin=protoc-gen-es=./node_modules/.bin/protoc-gen-es proto/example.proto

You don't need TypeScript to use Protobuf-ES. Just set the plugin option target=js if you prefer plain JavaScript, or target=js+dts if you prefer JavaScript with TypeScript declaration files.