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gRPC vs REST: Protobuf vs JSON Payload Race

Interactive 3D simulator: encode the same mobile API payload as JSON (REST) and as Protocol Buffers (gRPC) with a real byte-level encoder, then race both across 2G/3G/4G/5G network profiles to see exactly how much serialization format changes transfer time.

Networks & Graph Theory3DModerate60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 2D version

Mobile apps constantly choose between REST/JSON and gRPC/Protocol Buffers for talking to a backend, but the size difference is usually described in vague percentages. This simulator builds a real API record from a configurable schema, encodes it two ways with an actual byte-accurate JSON serializer and a hand-written Protocol Buffers wire-format encoder (varint tags, length-delimited strings, fixed32 floats — the same rules real gRPC stacks use), then computes true transfer time across four cellular network profiles from bandwidth and round-trip latency. A 3D "packet train" — its length set by payload size, its speed set by transfer time — races both formats from device to server so the gap is something you watch, not just a number.

⚙ Under the hood

Encode the same mobile API record as JSON (REST) and Protocol Buffers (gRPC) with a byte-accurate wire-format encoder, then race both across 2G/3G/4G/5G network profiles to see exactly how much serialization format changes transfer time.

networkingmobilegrpcrest-apiprotobufserialization

3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install