Using Protobuf instead of JSON to communicate with a front end
Making JSON first-class is an explicit design goal of proto3, the next version of Protocol Buffers currently in alpha: https://developers.google.com/protocol-buffers/docs/proto3#j...This will allow you to switch between JSON and protobuf binary on the wire easily, while using official protobuf client libraries.  So you can choose easily whether you care more about size/speed efficiency or wire readability.  Best of both worlds!I work on the protobuf team at Google and would be happy to answer any questions.