Re: [boost] [serialization] proposed improvements: forward-compatibility of serialization

Subject: Re: [boost] [serialization] proposed improvements: forward-compatibility of serialization
From: Jeremy Maitin-Shepard (jeremy_at_[hidden])
Date: 2014-04-14 23:14:08

Andrzej Horoszczak <ahoroszczak <at> zunit.com> writes:

> 
> Hello Everybody,
> 
> (it seems that my previous post had contained only title - so I repeat
> the full posting below)
> 
> We've started (again) using boost::serialization in our multi-platform
> distributed application about one year ago. However, we have arrived at
> a road block with forward-compatibility of serialization - which of
> major importance to us since we cannot force users to upgrade to the
> same/newer version of application all at the same time.

If you are not already aware of it, you might want to look into Google
Protocol Buffers.  It doesn't directly interface with existing C++ types as
conveniently as Boost Serialization, but it is specifically designed to
support forward and backward compatibility, and I believe provides all of
the functionality you are looking for.