https://github.com/mlabs-haskell/lambda-buffers

LambdaBuffers toolkit for sharing types and their semantics between different languages
https://github.com/mlabs-haskell/lambda-buffers

cardano code-generation flake-parts haskell nix plutarch plutus protocol-buffers purescript rust types

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LambdaBuffers toolkit for sharing types and their semantics between different languages

• Host: GitHub
• URL: https://github.com/mlabs-haskell/lambda-buffers
• Owner: mlabs-haskell
• License: apache-2.0
• Created: 2022-10-04T11:40:56.000Z (over 2 years ago)
• Default Branch: main
• Last Pushed: 2025-04-14T06:39:01.000Z (7 days ago)
• Last Synced: 2025-04-14T07:38:23.806Z (7 days ago)
• Topics: cardano, code-generation, flake-parts, haskell, nix, plutarch, plutus, protocol-buffers, purescript, rust, types
• Language: Haskell
• Homepage: https://mlabs-haskell.github.io/lambda-buffers/
• Size: 8.78 MB
• Stars: 31
• Watchers: 16
• Forks: 1
• Open Issues: 35
• Metadata Files:
  • Readme: README.md
  • Changelog: CHANGELOG.md
  • Contributing: CONTRIBUTING.md
  • License: LICENSE

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README

        
# Lambda Buffers

[![Hercules CI](https://hercules-ci.com/api/v1/site/github/account/mlabs-haskell/project/lambda-buffers/badge)](https://hercules-ci.com/github/mlabs-haskell/lambda-buffers/status)

![LambdaBuffers banner](docs/images/lambda-buffers-banner.png)

## Introduction

_LambdaBuffers_ is a schema language (similar to ProtoBuffers, ADL, ASN.1, JSON

Schema, etc.) and associated code generation toolkit. The goal of this project

is to provide developers tools to define algebraic data types in a

language-agnostic format such that shared data types can be declared in one

place while maintaining compatibility across a plethora of supported languages.

Users may refer to the [comparison matrix](./docs/comparison-matrix.md) for an

in-depth comparison of LambdaBuffers' features against the feature-set of other

popular schema-languages.

At a glance, you may wish to choose LambdaBuffers instead of one of its

competitors if your project requires:

 1. _Parameterized Data Types_ (aka. type functions): Unlike ProtoBuffers or

    JSON Schema, LambdaBuffers allows users to define algebraic data types which

    take type variable arguments. If your project's domain is most accurately

    represented by parameterized data types, LambdaBuffers may be a good choice

    for your needs.

 2. _Opaque Types_: Almost every competing schema language provides users a

    fixed set of builtin or primitive types, which are handled in a special

    manner by the code generation and cannot be extended. LambdaBuffers, by

    contrast, allows users to add their own builtin types and extend the

    existing code generation framework to handle those builtins in a manner

    intended by the users. There are no _special_ primitive types in

    LambdaBuffers; a user-defined primitive type is defined in exactly the same

    way (i.e. as an `opaque` type) as a LambdaBuffers "builtin".

 3. _Typeclass Support_: While nearly every schema language supports generating

    type definitions in supported target languages, to our knowledge no schema

    language supports generating commonly used functions that operate on those

    types. Unlike other schema languages, LambdaBuffers supports code generation

    for _typeclass instances_ (or the equivalent in languages that lack support

    for typeclasses) to reduce the amount of boilerplate required to

    productively make use of the generated types. While LambdaBuffers is still a

    work-in-progress, we expect that, upon completion, an extensive test suite

    will provide a high degree of assurance that the instances/methods generated

    by the LambdaBuffers code generator behave identically.

## Documentation

Visit [LambdaBuffers Github Pages](https://mlabs-haskell.github.io/lambda-buffers).

## Acknowledgements

This project was graciously funded by the Cardano Treasury in [Catalyst Fund 9](https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/421376) and [Catalyst Fund 10](https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/105975).

Authors:

- [Drazen Popovic](https://github.com/bladyjoker)

- [Vlad Posmangiu Luchian](https://github.com/cstml)

- [Sean Hunter](https://github.com/gnumonik)

Contributors:

- [George Flerovsky](https://github.com/GeorgeFlerovsky)

- [Andrea Ciceri](https://github.com/aciceri)

- [Julia Chatain](https://juliachatain.com)

- [Andrea Vezzosi](https://github.com/saizan)

- [Magnus Viernickel](https://github.com/MangoIV)

- [Rajdeep Chase Maity](https://github.com/TotallyNotChase)

- [Ramiro Garay](https://github.com/rmgaray)

- [Jared Pon](https://github.com/jaredponn)

- [Gergely Szabo](https://github.com/szg251)