java - Google Protocol Buffers and HTTP

Question

I'm refactoring legacy C++ system to SOA using gSoap. We have some performance issues (very big XMLs) so my lead asked me to take a look at protocol buffers. I did, and it looks very cool (We need C++ and Java support). However protocol buffers are solution just for serialization and now I need to send it to Java front-end. What should I use from C++ and Java perspective to send those serialized stuff over HTTP (just internal network)?

PS. Another guy tries to speed-up our gSoap solution, I'm interested in protocol buffers only.

Answer 1

You can certainly send even a binary payload with an HTTP request, or in an HTTP response. Just write the bytes of the protocol buffer directly into the request/response, and make sure to set the content type to "application/octet-stream". The client, and server, should be able to take care of the rest easily. I don't think you need anything more special than that on either end.