Serialize and send a data structure using Boost?

Question

I have a data structure that looks like this:

typedef struct
{
  unsigned short m_short1;
  unsigned short m_short2;
  unsigned char m_character;
} MyDataType;
         


        

Answer 1

For such simple structure, boost::serialization is overkill and huge overhead.

Do simpler:

vector net(3,0);

net[0]=htons(data.m_short1);
net[1]=htons(data.m_short2);
net[2]=htons(data.character);

asio::async_write(socket,buffer((char*)&net.front(),6),callback);

vector net(3,0);
asio::async_read(socket,buffer((char*)&net.front(),6),callback);

callback:
data.m_short1=ntohs(net[0]);
data.m_short2=ntohs(net[1]);
data.character=ntohs(net[2]);

And Save yourself HUGE overhead that boost::serialization has

And if you private protocol where computers with same order of bytes work (big/little) that just send structure as is -- POD.