Rust Object Serialization
Apache Fory™ is a high-performance multi-language serialization framework. The Rust implementation uses compile-time code generation for object serialization.
The Rust implementation provides versatile and high-performance serialization with automatic memory management and compile-time type safety. It supports both xlang mode for cross-language payloads and native mode for Rust-only payloads.
Why Apache Fory™ Rust?
- Fast binary encoding: Zero-copy deserialization and optimized binary protocols
- Xlang: Seamlessly serialize/deserialize data across Java, Python, C++, Go, Rust, JavaScript/TypeScript, C#, Swift, Dart, Scala, and Kotlin
- Type-safe: Compile-time type checking with derive macros
- Circular references: Automatic tracking of shared and circular references with
Rc/Arcand weak pointers - Polymorphic: Serialize trait objects with
Box<dyn Trait>,Rc<dyn Trait>, andArc<dyn Trait> - Schema evolution: Compatible mode for independent schema changes
Crates
| Crate | Description | Version |
|---|---|---|
fory | User-facing API, runtime types, and derive macros | 1.5.0 |
fory-core | Lower-level runtime crate for advanced integrations | 1.5.0 |
fory-derive | Lower-level procedural macro crate for direct runtime use | 1.5.0 |
Most applications should depend on fory only. It re-exports the derive
macros and the public runtime types needed by generated code. Use fory-core
or fory-derive directly only when intentionally building on the lower-level
runtime crates.
Quick Start
Add Apache Fory™ to your Cargo.toml:
[dependencies]
fory = "1.5.0"
Basic Example
use fory::{Fory, Error, Reader};
use fory::ForyStruct;
#[derive(ForyStruct, Debug, PartialEq)]
struct User {
name: String,
age: i32,
email: String,
}
fn main() -> Result<(), Error> {
let mut fory = Fory::builder().xlang(true).build();
fory.register::<User>(1)?;
let user = User {
name: "Alice".to_string(),
age: 30,
email: "alice@example.com".to_string(),
};
// Serialize
let bytes = fory.serialize(&user)?;
// Deserialize
let decoded: User = fory.deserialize(&bytes)?;
assert_eq!(user, decoded);
// Serialize to specified buffer
let mut buf: Vec<u8> = vec![];
fory.serialize_to(&mut buf, &user)?;
// Deserialize from specified buffer
let mut reader = Reader::new(&buf);
let decoded: User = fory.deserialize_from(&mut reader)?;
assert_eq!(user, decoded);
Ok(())
}
Xlang Mode And Native Mode
Use xlang mode for cross-language payloads and schemas shared with other Fory implementations. Xlang mode is the default Rust wire mode, and Rust examples that use it set .xlang(true) explicitly so the mode choice is visible.
Use native mode for Rust-only traffic. Native mode is selected with .xlang(false) and keeps Rust object serialization in Rust-native form. It supports native-only concrete targets and data-enum shapes that have no xlang representation. Dynamic Any, application trait, and shared-reference carriers can also be used in xlang mode when every selected concrete target is xlang-compatible. Compatible mode is enabled by default. Set .compatible(false) only when every reader and writer uses the same Rust schema and you want faster serialization and smaller size.
See Xlang Serialization for Rust xlang registration and interoperability rules, and Native Serialization for Rust-only payloads.
Thread Safety
Apache Fory™ Rust is fully thread-safe: Fory implements both Send and Sync, so one configured instance can be shared across threads for concurrent work. The internal read/write context pools are lazily initialized with thread-safe primitives, letting worker threads reuse buffers without coordination.
use fory::{Fory, Error};
use fory::ForyStruct;
use std::sync::Arc;
use std::thread;
#[derive(ForyStruct, Clone, Copy, Debug, PartialEq)]
struct Item {
value: i32,
}
fn main() -> Result<(), Error> {
let mut fory = Fory::builder().xlang(true).build();
fory.register::<Item>(1000)?;
let fory = Arc::new(fory);
let handles: Vec<_> = (0..8)
.map(|i| {
let shared = Arc::clone(&fory);
thread::spawn(move || {
let item = Item { value: i };
shared.serialize(&item)
})
})
.collect();
for handle in handles {
let bytes = handle.join().unwrap()?;
let item: Item = fory.deserialize(&bytes)?;
assert!(item.value >= 0);
}
Ok(())
}
Tip: Perform registrations (such as fory.register::<T>(id)) before spawning threads so every worker sees the same metadata. Once configured, wrapping the instance in Arc is enough to fan out serialization and deserialization tasks safely.
Use Cases
Object Serialization
- Complex data structures with nested objects and references
- Cross-language communication in microservices
- General-purpose serialization with full type safety
- Schema evolution with compatible mode
- Graph-like data structures with circular references
Next Steps
- Configuration - Fory builder options and modes
- Basic Serialization - Object graph serialization
- Xlang Serialization - xlang mode
- Native Serialization - Rust-only serialization
- References - Shared and circular references
- Polymorphism - Trait object serialization
- Custom Serializers - Implement custom serialization behavior
- External-Type Serialization - External structural and custom serializers plus carrier composition
- Row Format - Standard Row Format with borrowed views
- gRPC Support - Fory payloads over tonic