Package com.google.protobuf

## Interface MessageLite

All Superinterfaces:
  `MessageLiteOrBuilder`

All Known Subinterfaces:
  `Message`

All Known Implementing Classes:
  `AbstractMessage`, `AbstractMessageLite`, `DescriptorProtos.DescriptorProto`, `DescriptorProtos.DescriptorProto.ExtensionRange`, `DescriptorProtos.EnumDescriptorProto`, `DescriptorProtos.EnumOptions`, `DescriptorProtos.EnumValueDescriptorProto`, `DescriptorProtos.EnumValueOptions`, `DescriptorProtos.FieldDescriptorProto`, `DescriptorProtos.FieldOptions`, `DescriptorProtos.FileDescriptorProto`, `DescriptorProtos.FileDescriptorSet`, `DescriptorProtos.FileOptions`, `DescriptorProtos.MessageOptions`, `DescriptorProtos.MethodDescriptorProto`, `DescriptorProtos.MethodOptions`, `DescriptorProtos.OneofDescriptorProto`, `DescriptorProtos.ServiceDescriptorProto`, `DescriptorProtos.ServiceOptions`, `DescriptorProtos.SourceCodeInfo`, `DescriptorProtos.SourceCodeInfo.Location`, `DescriptorProtos.UninterpretedOption`, `DescriptorProtos.UninterpretedOption.NamePart`, `DynamicMessage`, `GeneratedMessage`, `GeneratedMessage.ExtendableMessage`, `GeneratedMessageLite`, `GeneratedMessageLite.ExtendableMessage`, `UnknownFieldSet`

    public interface MessageLite
    extends MessageLiteOrBuilder

Abstract interface implemented by Protocol Message objects.

This interface is implemented by all protocol message objects. Non-lite messages additionally implement the Message interface, which is a subclass of MessageLite. Use MessageLite instead when you only need the subset of features which it supports -- namely, nothing that uses descriptors or reflection. You can instruct the protocol compiler to generate classes which implement only MessageLite, not the full Message interface, by adding the follow line to the .proto file:

       option optimize_for = LITE_RUNTIME;

This is particularly useful on resource-constrained systems where the full protocol buffers runtime library is too big.

Note that on non-constrained systems (e.g. servers) when you need to link in lots of protocol definitions, a better way to reduce total code footprint is to use `optimize_for = CODE_SIZE`. This will make the generated code smaller while still supporting all the same features (at the expense of speed). `optimize_for = LITE_RUNTIME` is best when you only have a small number of message types linked into your binary, in which case the size of the protocol buffers runtime itself is the biggest problem.

Author:
  kenton@google.com Kenton Varda

### Nested Class Summary

Nested Classes
`static interface` `MessageLite.Builder` Abstract interface implemented by Protocol Message builders.

### Method Summary

All Methods Instance Methods Abstract Methods
`Parser<? extends MessageLite>` `getParserForType()` Gets the parser for a message of the same type as this message.
`int` `getSerializedSize()` Get the number of bytes required to encode this message.
`MessageLite.Builder` `newBuilderForType()` Constructs a new builder for a message of the same type as this message.
`MessageLite.Builder` `toBuilder()` Constructs a builder initialized with the current message.
`byte[]` `toByteArray()` Serializes the message to a `byte` array and returns it.
`ByteString` `toByteString()` Serializes the message to a `ByteString` and returns it.
`void` `writeDelimitedTo​(java.io.OutputStream output)` Like `writeTo(OutputStream)`, but writes the size of the message as a varint before writing the data.
`void` `writeTo​(CodedOutputStream output)` Serializes the message and writes it to `output`.
`void` `writeTo​(java.io.OutputStream output)` Serializes the message and writes it to `output`.

### Methods inherited from interface com.google.protobuf.MessageLiteOrBuilder

`getDefaultInstanceForType, isInitialized`

### Method Detail

#### writeTo

    void writeTo​(CodedOutputStream output)
          throws java.io.IOException

Serializes the message and writes it to `output`. This does not flush or close the stream.

Throws:
  `java.io.IOException`

#### getSerializedSize

    int getSerializedSize()

Get the number of bytes required to encode this message. The result is only computed on the first call and memoized after that.

#### getParserForType

    Parser<? extends MessageLite> getParserForType()

Gets the parser for a message of the same type as this message.

#### toByteString

    ByteString toByteString()

Serializes the message to a `ByteString` and returns it. This is just a trivial wrapper around `writeTo(CodedOutputStream)`.

#### toByteArray

    byte[] toByteArray()

Serializes the message to a `byte` array and returns it. This is just a trivial wrapper around `writeTo(CodedOutputStream)`.

#### writeTo

    void writeTo​(java.io.OutputStream output)
          throws java.io.IOException

Serializes the message and writes it to `output`. This is just a trivial wrapper around `writeTo(CodedOutputStream)`. This does not flush or close the stream.

NOTE: Protocol Buffers are not self-delimiting. Therefore, if you write any more data to the stream after the message, you must somehow ensure that the parser on the receiving end does not interpret this as being part of the protocol message. This can be done e.g. by writing the size of the message before the data, then making sure to limit the input to that size on the receiving end (e.g. by wrapping the InputStream in one which limits the input). Alternatively, just use `writeDelimitedTo(OutputStream)`.

Throws:
  `java.io.IOException`

#### writeDelimitedTo

    void writeDelimitedTo​(java.io.OutputStream output)
                   throws java.io.IOException

Like `writeTo(OutputStream)`, but writes the size of the message as a varint before writing the data. This allows more data to be written to the stream after the message without the need to delimit the message data yourself. Use `MessageLite.Builder.mergeDelimitedFrom(InputStream)` (or the static method `YourMessageType.parseDelimitedFrom(InputStream)`) to parse messages written by this method.

Throws:
  `java.io.IOException`

#### newBuilderForType

    MessageLite.Builder newBuilderForType()

Constructs a new builder for a message of the same type as this message.

#### toBuilder

    MessageLite.Builder toBuilder()

Constructs a builder initialized with the current message. Use this to derive a new message from the current one.