bare Binary Application Record Encoding

BARE is a simple binary representation for structured application data, see https://baremessages.org/.

BARE implementation ported to NuttX is cbare, see https://git.sr.ht/~fsx/cbare.

BARE is similar to other binary formats like CBOR, BSON, or Protocol Buffers.

BARE at glance, from its web page:

• Messages are encoded in binary and compact in size. Messages do not contain schema information — they are not self-describing.

• BARE is optimized for small messages. It is not optimized for encoding large amounts of data in a single message, or efficiently reading a message with fields of a fixed size. However, all types are aligned to 8 bits, which does exchange some space for simplicity.

• BARE’s approach to extensibility is conservative: messages encoded today will be decodable tomorrow, and vice-versa. But extensibility is still possible; implementations can choose to decode user-defined types at a higher level and map them onto arbitrary data types.

• The specification is likewise conservative. Simple implementations of message decoders and encoders can be written inside of an afternoon.

• An optional DSL is provided to document message schemas and provide a source for code generation. However, if you prefer, you may also define your schema using the type system already available in your programming language.