README.md

lua-serializer

A serializer for lua. Translates lua tables into custom binary data. Not human readable.

Usage

Using the serializer is very simple! Here is an example:

local serializer = require 'serializer'

local data = {
  hello = "world" -- you can store data as if it were a normal lua table!
  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, -- mixed table-arrays are allowed
  [true] = "you can index booleans too, yes",
  ["is_this_valid?"] = true
}

local binary_data = serializer.encode(data)
--> string of binary data!

local recovered_data = serializer.decode(binary_data)
--> your data is back from the bits!

print(recovered_data.hello) -- outputs "world"

But there are some rules:

1. You cannot index the types: function, table, userdata, thread
2. You cannot store the types: function, userdata, thread
3. Your floats might lose precision! Non-integer values are stored using fixed point numbers. Furthermore, to implement this, I had to limit the amount of bytes used per number data to 4 bytes. So integers can go from -65536 to 65535, and non-integers can only go from -32768 to 32767. Since lua prior to v5.3 treats all numbers as float, I separate float from integer by checking them against C's FLOAT_EPSILON value.
4. There is protection against circular tables! If you're trying to serialize a circular table, it will throw an ugly error at you. You dirty dirty circular table user. Were you trying to make my code loop infinitely?
5. You can forget about your metatables. I completely ignore them. If you use __index shenanigans it will get completely messed up results on you.
6. It's efficient enough. Probably.

MIT LICENSE

Feel free to use it for your program or whatever. Issues are welcome.