[REEF-317] Remove protocol buffers dependency

• Type: Improvement
• Status: Closed
• Priority: Minor
• Resolution: Won't Fix
• Component/s: REEF
• Assignee: Unassigned
• Reporter: Markus Weimer
• Created: 10/May/15 23:04
• Updated: 23/Sep/16 19:21
• Resolved: 23/Sep/16 19:21

Description

REEF currently use two different serialization systems: Apache Avro and Google's protocol buffers. Of the two, Avro is the more pleasant
one to use:

• It is real OSS and breaking releases don't just drop from nowhere.
• The .NET support is way better than in protobuf.
• It has a maven plugin, which means developers only need Java and
  Maven instead of also installing protoc

Hence, we should move towards replacing protocol buffers with Avro wherever feasible. This JIRA shall serve as the central linking / umbrella IRA for that effort.

Issue Links

• is related to: REEF-943 Decouple the DriverSide heartbeat handling from protobuf

Sub-Tasks

• Replace Protocol Buffers for class hierarchy with Avro: Closed