# MessagePack
MessagePack is an efficient binary serialization format. It lets you exchange data among multiple languages like JSON. But it's faster and smaller. Small integers are encoded into a single byte, and typical short strings require only one extra byte in addition to the strings themselves.
!!! abstract "References"
- [MessagePack website](https://msgpack.org)
- [MessagePack specification](https://github.com/msgpack/msgpack/blob/master/spec.md)
## Serialization
The library uses the following mapping from JSON values types to MessagePack types according to the MessagePack specification:
JSON value type | value/range | MessagePack type | first byte
--------------- | --------------------------------- | ---------------- | ----------
null | `null` | nil | 0xC0
boolean | `true` | true | 0xC3
boolean | `false` | false | 0xC2
number_integer | -9223372036854775808..-2147483649 | int64 | 0xD3
number_integer | -2147483648..-32769 | int32 | 0xD2
number_integer | -32768..-129 | int16 | 0xD1
number_integer | -128..-33 | int8 | 0xD0
number_integer | -32..-1 | negative fixint | 0xE0..0xFF
number_integer | 0..127 | positive fixint | 0x00..0x7F
number_integer | 128..255 | uint 8 | 0xCC
number_integer | 256..65535 | uint 16 | 0xCD
number_integer | 65536..4294967295 | uint 32 | 0xCE
number_integer | 4294967296..18446744073709551615 | uint 64 | 0xCF
number_unsigned | 0..127 | positive fixint | 0x00..0x7F
number_unsigned | 128..255 | uint 8 | 0xCC
number_unsigned | 256..65535 | uint 16 | 0xCD
number_unsigned | 65536..4294967295 | uint 32 | 0xCE
number_unsigned | 4294967296..18446744073709551615 | uint 64 | 0xCF
number_float | *any value representable by a float* | float 32 | 0xCA
number_float | *any value NOT representable by a float* | float 64 | 0xCB
string | *length*: 0..31 | fixstr | 0xA0..0xBF
string | *length*: 32..255 | str 8 | 0xD9
string | *length*: 256..65535 | str 16 | 0xDA
string | *length*: 65536..4294967295 | str 32 | 0xDB
array | *size*: 0..15 | fixarray | 0x90..0x9F
array | *size*: 16..65535 | array 16 | 0xDC
array | *size*: 65536..4294967295 | array 32 | 0xDD
object | *size*: 0..15 | fix map | 0x80..0x8F
object | *size*: 16..65535 | map 16 | 0xDE
object | *size*: 65536..4294967295 | map 32 | 0xDF
binary | *size*: 0..255 | bin 8 | 0xC4
binary | *size*: 256..65535 | bin 16 | 0xC5
binary | *size*: 65536..4294967295 | bin 32 | 0xC6
!!! success "Complete mapping"
The mapping is **complete** in the sense that any JSON value type can be converted to a MessagePack value.
Any MessagePack output created by `to_msgpack` can be successfully parsed by `from_msgpack`.
!!! warning "Size constraints"
The following values can **not** be converted to a MessagePack value:
- strings with more than 4294967295 bytes
- byte strings with more than 4294967295 bytes
- arrays with more than 4294967295 elements
- objects with more than 4294967295 elements
!!! info "NaN/infinity handling"
If NaN or Infinity are stored inside a JSON number, they are serialized properly. function which serializes NaN or Infinity to `null`.
??? example
```cpp
--8<-- "examples/to_msgpack.cpp"
```
Output:
```c
--8<-- "examples/to_msgpack.output"
```
## Deserialization
The library maps MessagePack types to JSON value types as follows:
MessagePack type | JSON value type | first byte
---------------- | --------------- | ----------
positive fixint | number_unsigned | 0x00..0x7F
fixmap | object | 0x80..0x8F
fixarray | array | 0x90..0x9F
fixstr | string | 0xA0..0xBF
nil | `null` | 0xC0
false | `false` | 0xC2
true | `true` | 0xC3
float 32 | number_float | 0xCA
float 64 | number_float | 0xCB
uint 8 | number_unsigned | 0xCC
uint 16 | number_unsigned | 0xCD
uint 32 | number_unsigned | 0xCE
uint 64 | number_unsigned | 0xCF
int 8 | number_integer | 0xD0
int 16 | number_integer | 0xD1
int 32 | number_integer | 0xD2
int 64 | number_integer | 0xD3
str 8 | string | 0xD9
str 16 | string | 0xDA
str 32 | string | 0xDB
array 16 | array | 0xDC
array 32 | array | 0xDD
map 16 | object | 0xDE
map 32 | object | 0xDF
bin 8 | binary | 0xC4
bin 16 | binary | 0xC5
bin 32 | binary | 0xC6
ext 8 | binary | 0xC7
ext 16 | binary | 0xC8
ext 32 | binary | 0xC9
fixext 1 | binary | 0xD4
fixext 2 | binary | 0xD5
fixext 4 | binary | 0xD6
fixext 8 | binary | 0xD7
fixext 16 | binary | 0xD8
negative fixint | number_integer | 0xE0-0xFF
!!! info
Any MessagePack output created by `to_msgpack` can be successfully parsed by `from_msgpack`.
??? example
```cpp
--8<-- "examples/from_msgpack.cpp"
```
Output:
```json
--8<-- "examples/from_msgpack.output"
```