flatB

flatB is a hypothetical data-serialization format and accompanying library designed to store and access tabular data in flat, binary buffers with minimal overhead. The format emphasizes a compact, memory-mappable layout that enables random access to rows or columns without full decoding of the payload. It uses a schema header, type tagging, and offset vectors to support efficient queries and streaming.

Origin and scope: The concept of flatB has appeared in technical discussions and teaching materials to illustrate how a flat-memory design can improve serialization performance in data pipelines and edge computing. It is not tied to a single organization and remains a reference model for exploring memory efficiency and zero-copy access.

Design and features: Core elements include a schema descriptor with versioning, optional compression, zero-copy deserialization, and bindings for multiple programming languages. The layout supports both row-major and columnar access patterns, enabling flexible analytics workloads. Tools exist to convert between flatB and common formats such as JSON, CSV, or Parquet, and to validate schemas for backward compatibility.

Use cases: Real-time telemetry, game-state synchronization, streaming analytics, and edge devices with constrained bandwidth or memory. flatB is envisioned to simplify data exchange between heterogeneous systems while preserving low-latency access.

Considerations: As a hypothetical format, practical adoption depends on tooling maturity, interoperability with existing ecosystems, and clear guidance for schema evolution and compatibility.

See also: Parquet, Apache Arrow, Protocol Buffers, FlatBuffers, JSON.