Re: [DISCUSS][JAVA] Generating toBytes/fromBytes methods?

[Martin Kleppmann]

Yes, I think it's inevitable that there is some kind of registry or database of 
schemas, since a fingerprint by itself does not contain enough information to 
be able to decode a record. https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/AVRO-1704 
calls this a SchemaStore.

In some cases, I imagine an application might be able to embed all schema 
versions in circulation into the application code. Then the SchemaStore could 
simply be an in-memory hash map. In this case, you'd have to be careful in 
deploying the application: when you want to add a new schema version, you first 
have to update all running instances to support the new schema (but not 
generate any records encoded with the new schema), and then in a second phase 
you update the application to start encoding records with the new schema.

In general, the SchemaStore might have to be a remote database, or something 
like the Confluent schema registry 
(http://docs.confluent.io/1.0/schema-registry/docs/intro.html). In that case, 
if an instance of the application encounters a schema fingerprint that it has 
not seen before, it can fetch the full schema from that database/registry.

The fingerprint could be a hash of the schema, bit it would also be ok to 
assign sequential numbers to schema versions, as long as you have some way of 
globally keeping track of those version numbers (this is what the Confluent 
schema registry does).

Martin

> On 23 Dec 2015, at 12:19, Niels Basjes  wrote:
> 
> Yes, as a generic crossplatform solution this makes a lot of sense. It s
> easy to build and stops consuming the messages as soon as the fingerprint
> changes.
> In my corporate reality I see that a source of messages puts them into
> Kafka, then several consumers read and deserialize them in near-realtime.
> In the static situation of "the schema doesn't change" having a fingerprint
> of the schema would suffice.
> But now the schema changes. I would like to deploy the new version of the
> source system, and consume these new messages using the schema migration
> idea. I.e. read the records as long as they are backwards compatible.
> As a general assumption: it is impossible to deploy a new version of all
> consuming applications at the same time.
> I want as little down time as possible and I do not want to lose any
> messages.
> 
> Is this possible with a simple fingerprint?
> The only direction I can think of right now is by having a central registry
> that contains all schemas ever used, indexed by their fingerprint.
> 
> What alternative solutions can we think of?
> 
> Niels
> 
> On Wed, 23 Dec 2015, 01:42 Sean Busbey  wrote:
> 
>> Including a schema fingerprint at the start
>> 
>> 1) reuses stuff we have
>> 2) gives a language independent notion of compatibility
>> 3) doesn't bind how folks get stuff in/out of the single record form.
>> 
>> --
>> Sean Busbey
>> On Dec 22, 2015 06:52, "Niels Basjes"  wrote:
>> 
>>> I was not clear enough in my previous email.
>>> What I meant is to 'wrap' the application schema in a serialization
>> wrapper
>>> schema that has a field indicating the "schema classname".
>>> That (generic setup) combined with some generated code in the schema
>>> classes should yield a solution that supports schema migration.
>>> 
>>> Niels
>>> 
>>> On Tue, Dec 22, 2015 at 11:55 AM, Niels Basjes  wrote:
>>> 
 Thanks for pointing this out.
 This is exactly what I was working on.
 
 The way I solved the 'does the schema match' question at work is by
 requiring that all schema's start with a single text field "schema
 classname" being the full class name of the class that was used to
>>> generate
 it.
 That way we can have newer versions of the schema and still be able to
 unpack them. In this form the classname is essentially an indicator if
 schema migration is possible; even though the schemas are different.
 
 What do you think of this direction?
 
 Niels
 
 
 On Mon, Dec 21, 2015 at 11:30 PM, Ryan Blue  wrote:
 
> Niels,
> 
> This sounds like a good idea to me to have methods like this. I've had
>>> to
> write those methods several times!
> 
> The idea is also related to AVRO-1704 [1], which is a suggestion to
> standardize the encoding that is used for single records. Some
>> projects
> have been embedding the schema fingerprint at the start of each
>> record,
>>> for
> example, which would be a helpful thing to do.
> 
> It may also be a good idea to create a helper object rather than
> attaching new methods to the datum classes themselves. In your example
> below, you have to create a new encoder or decoder for each method
>>> call. We
> could instead keep a backing buffer and encoder/decoder on a class
>> that
>>> the
> caller instantiates so that they can be reused. At the same time, that
> would make it possible to 

Re: [DISCUSS][JAVA] Generating toBytes/fromBytes methods?

[Niels Basjes]

Yes, as a generic crossplatform solution this makes a lot of sense. It s
easy to build and stops consuming the messages as soon as the fingerprint
changes.
In my corporate reality I see that a source of messages puts them into
Kafka, then several consumers read and deserialize them in near-realtime.
In the static situation of "the schema doesn't change" having a fingerprint
of the schema would suffice.
But now the schema changes. I would like to deploy the new version of the
source system, and consume these new messages using the schema migration
idea. I.e. read the records as long as they are backwards compatible.
As a general assumption: it is impossible to deploy a new version of all
consuming applications at the same time.
I want as little down time as possible and I do not want to lose any
messages.

Is this possible with a simple fingerprint?
The only direction I can think of right now is by having a central registry
that contains all schemas ever used, indexed by their fingerprint.

What alternative solutions can we think of?

Niels

On Wed, 23 Dec 2015, 01:42 Sean Busbey  wrote:

> Including a schema fingerprint at the start
>
> 1) reuses stuff we have
> 2) gives a language independent notion of compatibility
> 3) doesn't bind how folks get stuff in/out of the single record form.
>
> --
> Sean Busbey
> On Dec 22, 2015 06:52, "Niels Basjes"  wrote:
>
> > I was not clear enough in my previous email.
> > What I meant is to 'wrap' the application schema in a serialization
> wrapper
> > schema that has a field indicating the "schema classname".
> > That (generic setup) combined with some generated code in the schema
> > classes should yield a solution that supports schema migration.
> >
> > Niels
> >
> > On Tue, Dec 22, 2015 at 11:55 AM, Niels Basjes  wrote:
> >
> > > Thanks for pointing this out.
> > > This is exactly what I was working on.
> > >
> > > The way I solved the 'does the schema match' question at work is by
> > > requiring that all schema's start with a single text field "schema
> > > classname" being the full class name of the class that was used to
> > generate
> > > it.
> > > That way we can have newer versions of the schema and still be able to
> > > unpack them. In this form the classname is essentially an indicator if
> > > schema migration is possible; even though the schemas are different.
> > >
> > > What do you think of this direction?
> > >
> > > Niels
> > >
> > >
> > > On Mon, Dec 21, 2015 at 11:30 PM, Ryan Blue  wrote:
> > >
> > >> Niels,
> > >>
> > >> This sounds like a good idea to me to have methods like this. I've had
> > to
> > >> write those methods several times!
> > >>
> > >> The idea is also related to AVRO-1704 [1], which is a suggestion to
> > >> standardize the encoding that is used for single records. Some
> projects
> > >> have been embedding the schema fingerprint at the start of each
> record,
> > for
> > >> example, which would be a helpful thing to do.
> > >>
> > >> It may also be a good idea to create a helper object rather than
> > >> attaching new methods to the datum classes themselves. In your example
> > >> below, you have to create a new encoder or decoder for each method
> > call. We
> > >> could instead keep a backing buffer and encoder/decoder on a class
> that
> > the
> > >> caller instantiates so that they can be reused. At the same time, that
> > >> would make it possible to reuse the class with any data model and
> manage
> > >> the available schemas (if embedding the fingerprint).
> > >>
> > >> I'm thinking something like this:
> > >>
> > >>   ReflectClass datum = new ReflectClass();
> > >>   ReflectData model = ReflectData.get();
> > >>   DatumCodec codec = new DatumCodec(model, schema);
> > >>
> > >>   # convert datum to bytes using data model
> > >>   byte[] asBytes = codec.toBytes(datum);
> > >>
> > >>   # convert bytes to datum using data model
> > >>   ReflectClass copy = codec.fromBytes(asBytes);
> > >>
> > >> What do you think?
> > >>
> > >> rb
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> [1]: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/AVRO-1704
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> On 12/18/2015 05:01 AM, Niels Basjes wrote:
> > >>
> > >>> Hi,
> > >>>
> > >>> I'm working on a project where I'm putting Avro records into Kafka
> and
> > at
> > >>> the other end pull them out again.
> > >>> For that purpose I wrote two methods 'toBytes' and 'fromBytes' in a
> > >>> separate class (see below).
> > >>>
> > >>> I see this as the type of problem many developers run into.
> > >>> Would it be a good idea to generate methods like these into the
> > generated
> > >>> Java code?
> > >>>
> > >>> This would make it possible to serialize and deserialize singles
> > records
> > >>> like this:
> > >>>
> > >>> byte [] someBytes = measurement.toBytes();
> > >>> Measurement m = Measurement.fromBytes(someBytes);
> > >>>
> > >>> Niels Basjes
> > >>>
> > >>> P.S. possibly not name it toBytes but getBytes (similar to what the
> > 

Re: [DISCUSS][JAVA] Generating toBytes/fromBytes methods?

[Sean Busbey]

Including a schema fingerprint at the start

1) reuses stuff we have
2) gives a language independent notion of compatibility
3) doesn't bind how folks get stuff in/out of the single record form.

-- 
Sean Busbey
On Dec 22, 2015 06:52, "Niels Basjes"  wrote:

> I was not clear enough in my previous email.
> What I meant is to 'wrap' the application schema in a serialization wrapper
> schema that has a field indicating the "schema classname".
> That (generic setup) combined with some generated code in the schema
> classes should yield a solution that supports schema migration.
>
> Niels
>
> On Tue, Dec 22, 2015 at 11:55 AM, Niels Basjes  wrote:
>
> > Thanks for pointing this out.
> > This is exactly what I was working on.
> >
> > The way I solved the 'does the schema match' question at work is by
> > requiring that all schema's start with a single text field "schema
> > classname" being the full class name of the class that was used to
> generate
> > it.
> > That way we can have newer versions of the schema and still be able to
> > unpack them. In this form the classname is essentially an indicator if
> > schema migration is possible; even though the schemas are different.
> >
> > What do you think of this direction?
> >
> > Niels
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Dec 21, 2015 at 11:30 PM, Ryan Blue  wrote:
> >
> >> Niels,
> >>
> >> This sounds like a good idea to me to have methods like this. I've had
> to
> >> write those methods several times!
> >>
> >> The idea is also related to AVRO-1704 [1], which is a suggestion to
> >> standardize the encoding that is used for single records. Some projects
> >> have been embedding the schema fingerprint at the start of each record,
> for
> >> example, which would be a helpful thing to do.
> >>
> >> It may also be a good idea to create a helper object rather than
> >> attaching new methods to the datum classes themselves. In your example
> >> below, you have to create a new encoder or decoder for each method
> call. We
> >> could instead keep a backing buffer and encoder/decoder on a class that
> the
> >> caller instantiates so that they can be reused. At the same time, that
> >> would make it possible to reuse the class with any data model and manage
> >> the available schemas (if embedding the fingerprint).
> >>
> >> I'm thinking something like this:
> >>
> >>   ReflectClass datum = new ReflectClass();
> >>   ReflectData model = ReflectData.get();
> >>   DatumCodec codec = new DatumCodec(model, schema);
> >>
> >>   # convert datum to bytes using data model
> >>   byte[] asBytes = codec.toBytes(datum);
> >>
> >>   # convert bytes to datum using data model
> >>   ReflectClass copy = codec.fromBytes(asBytes);
> >>
> >> What do you think?
> >>
> >> rb
> >>
> >>
> >> [1]: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/AVRO-1704
> >>
> >>
> >> On 12/18/2015 05:01 AM, Niels Basjes wrote:
> >>
> >>> Hi,
> >>>
> >>> I'm working on a project where I'm putting Avro records into Kafka and
> at
> >>> the other end pull them out again.
> >>> For that purpose I wrote two methods 'toBytes' and 'fromBytes' in a
> >>> separate class (see below).
> >>>
> >>> I see this as the type of problem many developers run into.
> >>> Would it be a good idea to generate methods like these into the
> generated
> >>> Java code?
> >>>
> >>> This would make it possible to serialize and deserialize singles
> records
> >>> like this:
> >>>
> >>> byte [] someBytes = measurement.toBytes();
> >>> Measurement m = Measurement.fromBytes(someBytes);
> >>>
> >>> Niels Basjes
> >>>
> >>> P.S. possibly not name it toBytes but getBytes (similar to what the
> >>> String
> >>> class has)
> >>>
> >>> public final class MeasurementSerializer {
> >>>  private MeasurementSerializer() {
> >>>  }
> >>>
> >>>  public static Measurement fromBytes(byte[] bytes) throws
> >>> IOException {
> >>>  try {
> >>>  DatumReader reader = new
> >>> SpecificDatumReader<>(Measurement.getClassSchema());
> >>>  Decoder decoder =
> DecoderFactory.get().binaryDecoder(bytes,
> >>> null);
> >>>  return reader.read(null, decoder);
> >>>  } catch (RuntimeException rex) {
> >>>  throw new IOException(rex.getMessage());
> >>>  }
> >>>  }
> >>>
> >>>  public static byte[] toBytes(Measurement measurement) throws
> >>> IOException {
> >>>  try {
> >>>  ByteArrayOutputStream out = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
> >>>  Encoder encoder = EncoderFactory.get().binaryEncoder(out,
> >>> null);
> >>>  SpecificDatumWriter writer = new
> >>> SpecificDatumWriter<>(Measurement.class);
> >>>  writer.write(measurement, encoder);
> >>>  encoder.flush();
> >>>  out.close();
> >>>  return out.toByteArray();
> >>>  } catch (RuntimeException rex) {
> >>>  throw new IOException(rex.getMessage());
> >>>  }
> >>>  }
> >>> }
> >>>

Re: [DISCUSS][JAVA] Generating toBytes/fromBytes methods?

[Niels Basjes]

Thanks for pointing this out.
This is exactly what I was working on.

The way I solved the 'does the schema match' question at work is by
requiring that all schema's start with a single text field "schema
classname" being the full class name of the class that was used to generate
it.
That way we can have newer versions of the schema and still be able to
unpack them. In this form the classname is essentially an indicator if
schema migration is possible; even though the schemas are different.

What do you think of this direction?

Niels


On Mon, Dec 21, 2015 at 11:30 PM, Ryan Blue  wrote:

> Niels,
>
> This sounds like a good idea to me to have methods like this. I've had to
> write those methods several times!
>
> The idea is also related to AVRO-1704 [1], which is a suggestion to
> standardize the encoding that is used for single records. Some projects
> have been embedding the schema fingerprint at the start of each record, for
> example, which would be a helpful thing to do.
>
> It may also be a good idea to create a helper object rather than attaching
> new methods to the datum classes themselves. In your example below, you
> have to create a new encoder or decoder for each method call. We could
> instead keep a backing buffer and encoder/decoder on a class that the
> caller instantiates so that they can be reused. At the same time, that
> would make it possible to reuse the class with any data model and manage
> the available schemas (if embedding the fingerprint).
>
> I'm thinking something like this:
>
>   ReflectClass datum = new ReflectClass();
>   ReflectData model = ReflectData.get();
>   DatumCodec codec = new DatumCodec(model, schema);
>
>   # convert datum to bytes using data model
>   byte[] asBytes = codec.toBytes(datum);
>
>   # convert bytes to datum using data model
>   ReflectClass copy = codec.fromBytes(asBytes);
>
> What do you think?
>
> rb
>
>
> [1]: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/AVRO-1704
>
>
> On 12/18/2015 05:01 AM, Niels Basjes wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I'm working on a project where I'm putting Avro records into Kafka and at
>> the other end pull them out again.
>> For that purpose I wrote two methods 'toBytes' and 'fromBytes' in a
>> separate class (see below).
>>
>> I see this as the type of problem many developers run into.
>> Would it be a good idea to generate methods like these into the generated
>> Java code?
>>
>> This would make it possible to serialize and deserialize singles records
>> like this:
>>
>> byte [] someBytes = measurement.toBytes();
>> Measurement m = Measurement.fromBytes(someBytes);
>>
>> Niels Basjes
>>
>> P.S. possibly not name it toBytes but getBytes (similar to what the String
>> class has)
>>
>> public final class MeasurementSerializer {
>>  private MeasurementSerializer() {
>>  }
>>
>>  public static Measurement fromBytes(byte[] bytes) throws IOException
>> {
>>  try {
>>  DatumReader reader = new
>> SpecificDatumReader<>(Measurement.getClassSchema());
>>  Decoder decoder = DecoderFactory.get().binaryDecoder(bytes,
>> null);
>>  return reader.read(null, decoder);
>>  } catch (RuntimeException rex) {
>>  throw new IOException(rex.getMessage());
>>  }
>>  }
>>
>>  public static byte[] toBytes(Measurement measurement) throws
>> IOException {
>>  try {
>>  ByteArrayOutputStream out = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
>>  Encoder encoder = EncoderFactory.get().binaryEncoder(out,
>> null);
>>  SpecificDatumWriter writer = new
>> SpecificDatumWriter<>(Measurement.class);
>>  writer.write(measurement, encoder);
>>  encoder.flush();
>>  out.close();
>>  return out.toByteArray();
>>  } catch (RuntimeException rex) {
>>  throw new IOException(rex.getMessage());
>>  }
>>  }
>> }
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
> --
> Ryan Blue
> Software Engineer
> Cloudera, Inc.
>



-- 
Best regards / Met vriendelijke groeten,

Niels Basjes

Re: [DISCUSS][JAVA] Generating toBytes/fromBytes methods?

[Niels Basjes]

I was not clear enough in my previous email.
What I meant is to 'wrap' the application schema in a serialization wrapper
schema that has a field indicating the "schema classname".
That (generic setup) combined with some generated code in the schema
classes should yield a solution that supports schema migration.

Niels

On Tue, Dec 22, 2015 at 11:55 AM, Niels Basjes  wrote:

> Thanks for pointing this out.
> This is exactly what I was working on.
>
> The way I solved the 'does the schema match' question at work is by
> requiring that all schema's start with a single text field "schema
> classname" being the full class name of the class that was used to generate
> it.
> That way we can have newer versions of the schema and still be able to
> unpack them. In this form the classname is essentially an indicator if
> schema migration is possible; even though the schemas are different.
>
> What do you think of this direction?
>
> Niels
>
>
> On Mon, Dec 21, 2015 at 11:30 PM, Ryan Blue  wrote:
>
>> Niels,
>>
>> This sounds like a good idea to me to have methods like this. I've had to
>> write those methods several times!
>>
>> The idea is also related to AVRO-1704 [1], which is a suggestion to
>> standardize the encoding that is used for single records. Some projects
>> have been embedding the schema fingerprint at the start of each record, for
>> example, which would be a helpful thing to do.
>>
>> It may also be a good idea to create a helper object rather than
>> attaching new methods to the datum classes themselves. In your example
>> below, you have to create a new encoder or decoder for each method call. We
>> could instead keep a backing buffer and encoder/decoder on a class that the
>> caller instantiates so that they can be reused. At the same time, that
>> would make it possible to reuse the class with any data model and manage
>> the available schemas (if embedding the fingerprint).
>>
>> I'm thinking something like this:
>>
>>   ReflectClass datum = new ReflectClass();
>>   ReflectData model = ReflectData.get();
>>   DatumCodec codec = new DatumCodec(model, schema);
>>
>>   # convert datum to bytes using data model
>>   byte[] asBytes = codec.toBytes(datum);
>>
>>   # convert bytes to datum using data model
>>   ReflectClass copy = codec.fromBytes(asBytes);
>>
>> What do you think?
>>
>> rb
>>
>>
>> [1]: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/AVRO-1704
>>
>>
>> On 12/18/2015 05:01 AM, Niels Basjes wrote:
>>
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> I'm working on a project where I'm putting Avro records into Kafka and at
>>> the other end pull them out again.
>>> For that purpose I wrote two methods 'toBytes' and 'fromBytes' in a
>>> separate class (see below).
>>>
>>> I see this as the type of problem many developers run into.
>>> Would it be a good idea to generate methods like these into the generated
>>> Java code?
>>>
>>> This would make it possible to serialize and deserialize singles records
>>> like this:
>>>
>>> byte [] someBytes = measurement.toBytes();
>>> Measurement m = Measurement.fromBytes(someBytes);
>>>
>>> Niels Basjes
>>>
>>> P.S. possibly not name it toBytes but getBytes (similar to what the
>>> String
>>> class has)
>>>
>>> public final class MeasurementSerializer {
>>>  private MeasurementSerializer() {
>>>  }
>>>
>>>  public static Measurement fromBytes(byte[] bytes) throws
>>> IOException {
>>>  try {
>>>  DatumReader reader = new
>>> SpecificDatumReader<>(Measurement.getClassSchema());
>>>  Decoder decoder = DecoderFactory.get().binaryDecoder(bytes,
>>> null);
>>>  return reader.read(null, decoder);
>>>  } catch (RuntimeException rex) {
>>>  throw new IOException(rex.getMessage());
>>>  }
>>>  }
>>>
>>>  public static byte[] toBytes(Measurement measurement) throws
>>> IOException {
>>>  try {
>>>  ByteArrayOutputStream out = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
>>>  Encoder encoder = EncoderFactory.get().binaryEncoder(out,
>>> null);
>>>  SpecificDatumWriter writer = new
>>> SpecificDatumWriter<>(Measurement.class);
>>>  writer.write(measurement, encoder);
>>>  encoder.flush();
>>>  out.close();
>>>  return out.toByteArray();
>>>  } catch (RuntimeException rex) {
>>>  throw new IOException(rex.getMessage());
>>>  }
>>>  }
>>> }
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> --
>> Ryan Blue
>> Software Engineer
>> Cloudera, Inc.
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Best regards / Met vriendelijke groeten,
>
> Niels Basjes
>



-- 
Best regards / Met vriendelijke groeten,

Niels Basjes

Re: [DISCUSS][JAVA] Generating toBytes/fromBytes methods?

[Ryan Blue]

Niels,

This sounds like a good idea to me to have methods like this. I've had 
to write those methods several times!


The idea is also related to AVRO-1704 [1], which is a suggestion to 
standardize the encoding that is used for single records. Some projects 
have been embedding the schema fingerprint at the start of each record, 
for example, which would be a helpful thing to do.


It may also be a good idea to create a helper object rather than 
attaching new methods to the datum classes themselves. In your example 
below, you have to create a new encoder or decoder for each method call. 
We could instead keep a backing buffer and encoder/decoder on a class 
that the caller instantiates so that they can be reused. At the same 
time, that would make it possible to reuse the class with any data model 
and manage the available schemas (if embedding the fingerprint).


I'm thinking something like this:

  ReflectClass datum = new ReflectClass();
  ReflectData model = ReflectData.get();
  DatumCodec codec = new DatumCodec(model, schema);

  # convert datum to bytes using data model
  byte[] asBytes = codec.toBytes(datum);

  # convert bytes to datum using data model
  ReflectClass copy = codec.fromBytes(asBytes);

What do you think?

rb


[1]: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/AVRO-1704

On 12/18/2015 05:01 AM, Niels Basjes wrote:

Hi,

I'm working on a project where I'm putting Avro records into Kafka and at
the other end pull them out again.
For that purpose I wrote two methods 'toBytes' and 'fromBytes' in a
separate class (see below).

I see this as the type of problem many developers run into.
Would it be a good idea to generate methods like these into the generated
Java code?

This would make it possible to serialize and deserialize singles records
like this:

byte [] someBytes = measurement.toBytes();
Measurement m = Measurement.fromBytes(someBytes);

Niels Basjes

P.S. possibly not name it toBytes but getBytes (similar to what the String
class has)

public final class MeasurementSerializer {
 private MeasurementSerializer() {
 }

 public static Measurement fromBytes(byte[] bytes) throws IOException {
 try {
 DatumReader reader = new
SpecificDatumReader<>(Measurement.getClassSchema());
 Decoder decoder = DecoderFactory.get().binaryDecoder(bytes, null);
 return reader.read(null, decoder);
 } catch (RuntimeException rex) {
 throw new IOException(rex.getMessage());
 }
 }

 public static byte[] toBytes(Measurement measurement) throws IOException {
 try {
 ByteArrayOutputStream out = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
 Encoder encoder = EncoderFactory.get().binaryEncoder(out, null);
 SpecificDatumWriter writer = new
SpecificDatumWriter<>(Measurement.class);
 writer.write(measurement, encoder);
 encoder.flush();
 out.close();
 return out.toByteArray();
 } catch (RuntimeException rex) {
 throw new IOException(rex.getMessage());
 }
 }
}






--
Ryan Blue
Software Engineer
Cloudera, Inc.

Re: [DISCUSS][JAVA] Generating toBytes/fromBytes methods?

[Niels Basjes]

Guys? Any opinions on this idea?
On 18 Dec 2015 14:01, "Niels Basjes"  wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I'm working on a project where I'm putting Avro records into Kafka and at
> the other end pull them out again.
> For that purpose I wrote two methods 'toBytes' and 'fromBytes' in a
> separate class (see below).
>
> I see this as the type of problem many developers run into.
> Would it be a good idea to generate methods like these into the generated
> Java code?
>
> This would make it possible to serialize and deserialize singles records
> like this:
>
> byte [] someBytes = measurement.toBytes();
> Measurement m = Measurement.fromBytes(someBytes);
>
> Niels Basjes
>
> P.S. possibly not name it toBytes but getBytes (similar to what the String
> class has)
>
> public final class MeasurementSerializer {
> private MeasurementSerializer() {
> }
>
> public static Measurement fromBytes(byte[] bytes) throws IOException {
> try {
> DatumReader reader = new 
> SpecificDatumReader<>(Measurement.getClassSchema());
> Decoder decoder = DecoderFactory.get().binaryDecoder(bytes, null);
> return reader.read(null, decoder);
> } catch (RuntimeException rex) {
> throw new IOException(rex.getMessage());
> }
> }
>
> public static byte[] toBytes(Measurement measurement) throws IOException {
> try {
> ByteArrayOutputStream out = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
> Encoder encoder = EncoderFactory.get().binaryEncoder(out, null);
> SpecificDatumWriter writer = new 
> SpecificDatumWriter<>(Measurement.class);
> writer.write(measurement, encoder);
> encoder.flush();
> out.close();
> return out.toByteArray();
> } catch (RuntimeException rex) {
> throw new IOException(rex.getMessage());
> }
> }
> }
>
>
>
> --
> Best regards / Met vriendelijke groeten,
>
> Niels Basjes
>