Apache Thrift - Deserialization

Deserialization in Apache Thrift

Deserialization is the process of converting serialized data back into its original data structure or object.

In Apache Thrift, this involves using the same protocol that was used for serialization to ensure consistency and correctness. Here is a detailed explanation of the deserialization process −

Step 1: Choose the Protocol

The first step is to ensure that the same protocol used for serialization is used for deserialization. This consistency is important because different protocols have different ways of encoding and decoding data −

Step 2: Create the Protocol Factory

A protocol factory is responsible for creating protocol objects that will handle the deserialization. This factory ensures that the appropriate protocol is used to interpret the serialized data correctly −

from thrift.protocol import TBinaryProtocol

# Creating a protocol factory for TBinaryProtocol
protocol_factory = TBinaryProtocol.TBinaryProtocolFactory()

Step 3: Deserialize Data

With the protocol factory in place, the next step is to use the generated Thrift code (based on your IDL file) to deserialize the data back into its original structure.

This involves reading the serialized data and converting it back to the original data types and structures defined in your Thrift IDL −

from thrift.transport import TTransport

# Assume serialized_data is received or read from storage
transport = TTransport.TMemoryBuffer(serialized_data)
protocol = protocol_factory.getProtocol(transport)

# Example struct from Thrift IDL
person = Person()

# Deserialize the data
person.read(protocol)

print(f"Name: {person.name}, Age: {person.age}")

In the above example, "serialized_data" represents the data that was serialized previously. We use an in-memory buffer (TMemoryBuffer) to hold this data during deserialization. The "Person" struct, defined in the Thrift IDL, is then populated with the deserialized data.

Step 4: Use the Deserialized Data

After deserialization, the data is restored to its original structure and can be used within your application. For instance, you can now access the fields of the "Person" object (name and age) and use them as needed.