1// Copyright 2019 The Go Authors. All rights reserved.
 2// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
 3// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
 4
 5// Package proto provides functions operating on protocol buffer messages.
 6//
 7// For documentation on protocol buffers in general, see:
 8// https://protobuf.dev.
 9//
10// For a tutorial on using protocol buffers with Go, see:
11// https://protobuf.dev/getting-started/gotutorial.
12//
13// For a guide to generated Go protocol buffer code, see:
14// https://protobuf.dev/reference/go/go-generated.
15//
16// # Binary serialization
17//
18// This package contains functions to convert to and from the wire format,
19// an efficient binary serialization of protocol buffers.
20//
21//   - [Size] reports the size of a message in the wire format.
22//
23//   - [Marshal] converts a message to the wire format.
24//     The [MarshalOptions] type provides more control over wire marshaling.
25//
26//   - [Unmarshal] converts a message from the wire format.
27//     The [UnmarshalOptions] type provides more control over wire unmarshaling.
28//
29// # Basic message operations
30//
31//   - [Clone] makes a deep copy of a message.
32//
33//   - [Merge] merges the content of a message into another.
34//
35//   - [Equal] compares two messages. For more control over comparisons
36//     and detailed reporting of differences, see package
37//     [google.golang.org/protobuf/testing/protocmp].
38//
39//   - [Reset] clears the content of a message.
40//
41//   - [CheckInitialized] reports whether all required fields in a message are set.
42//
43// # Optional scalar constructors
44//
45// The API for some generated messages represents optional scalar fields
46// as pointers to a value. For example, an optional string field has the
47// Go type *string.
48//
49//   - [Bool], [Int32], [Int64], [Uint32], [Uint64], [Float32], [Float64], and [String]
50//     take a value and return a pointer to a new instance of it,
51//     to simplify construction of optional field values.
52//
53// Generated enum types usually have an Enum method which performs the
54// same operation.
55//
56// Optional scalar fields are only supported in proto2.
57//
58// # Extension accessors
59//
60//   - [HasExtension], [GetExtension], [SetExtension], and [ClearExtension]
61//     access extension field values in a protocol buffer message.
62//
63// Extension fields are only supported in proto2.
64//
65// # Related packages
66//
67//   - Package [google.golang.org/protobuf/encoding/protojson] converts messages to
68//     and from JSON.
69//
70//   - Package [google.golang.org/protobuf/encoding/prototext] converts messages to
71//     and from the text format.
72//
73//   - Package [google.golang.org/protobuf/reflect/protoreflect] provides a
74//     reflection interface for protocol buffer data types.
75//
76//   - Package [google.golang.org/protobuf/testing/protocmp] provides features
77//     to compare protocol buffer messages with the [github.com/google/go-cmp/cmp]
78//     package.
79//
80//   - Package [google.golang.org/protobuf/types/dynamicpb] provides a dynamic
81//     message type, suitable for working with messages where the protocol buffer
82//     type is only known at runtime.
83//
84// This module contains additional packages for more specialized use cases.
85// Consult the individual package documentation for details.
86package proto