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+Thrift Binary protocol encoding
+===============================
+
+<!--
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+Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
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+ http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
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+"AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the
+specific language governing permissions and limitations
+under the License.
+
+--------------------------------------------------------------------
+-->
+
+This documents describes the wire encoding for RPC using the older Thrift *binary protocol*.
+
+The information here is _mostly_ based on the Java implementation in the Apache thrift library (version 0.9.1 and
+0.9.3). Other implementation however, should behave the same.
+
+For background on Thrift see the [Thrift whitepaper (pdf)](https://thrift.apache.org/static/files/thrift-20070401.pdf).
+
+# Contents
+
+* Binary protocol
+ * Base types
+ * Message
+ * Struct
+ * List and Set
+ * Map
+* BNF notation used in this document
+
+# Binary protocol
+
+## Base types
+
+### Integer encoding
+
+In the _binary protocol_ integers are encoded with the most significant byte first (big endian byte order, aka network
+order). An `int8` needs 1 byte, an `int16` 2, an `int32` 4 and an `int64` needs 8 bytes.
+
+The CPP version has the option to use the binary protocol with little endian order. Little endian gives a small but
+noticeable performance boost because contemporary CPUs use little endian when storing integers to RAM.
+
+### Enum encoding
+
+The generated code encodes `Enum`s by taking the ordinal value and then encoding that as an int32.
+
+### Binary encoding
+
+Binary is sent as follows:
+
+```
+Binary protocol, binary data, 4+ bytes:
++--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+...+--------+
+| byte length | bytes |
++--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+...+--------+
+```
+
+Where:
+
+* `byte length` is the length of the byte array, a signed 32 bit integer encoded in network (big endian) order (must be >= 0).
+* `bytes` are the bytes of the byte array.
+
+### String encoding
+
+*String*s are first encoded to UTF-8, and then send as binary.
+
+### Double encoding
+
+Values of type `double` are first converted to an int64 according to the IEEE 754 floating-point "double format" bit
+layout. Most run-times provide a library to make this conversion. Both the binary protocol as the compact protocol then
+encode the int64 in 8 bytes in big endian order.
+
+### Boolean encoding
+
+Values of `bool` type are first converted to an int8. True is converted to `1`, false to `0`.
+
+## Message
+
+A `Message` can be encoded in two different ways:
+
+```
+Binary protocol Message, strict encoding, 12+ bytes:
++--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+...+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
+|1vvvvvvv|vvvvvvvv|unused |00000mmm| name length | name | seq id |
++--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+...+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
+```
+
+Where:
+
+* `vvvvvvvvvvvvvvv` is the version, an unsigned 15 bit number fixed to `1` (in binary: `000 0000 0000 0001`).
+ The leading bit is `1`.
+* `unused` is an ignored byte.
+* `mmm` is the message type, an unsigned 3 bit integer. The 5 leading bits must be `0` as some clients (checked for
+ java in 0.9.1) take the whole byte.
+* `name length` is the byte length of the name field, a signed 32 bit integer encoded in network (big endian) order (must be >= 0).
+* `name` is the method name, a UTF-8 encoded string.
+* `seq id` is the sequence id, a signed 32 bit integer encoded in network (big endian) order.
+
+The second, older encoding (aka non-strict) is:
+
+```
+Binary protocol Message, old encoding, 9+ bytes:
++--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+...+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
+| name length | name |00000mmm| seq id |
++--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+...+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
+```
+
+Where `name length`, `name`, `mmm`, `seq id` are as above.
+
+Because `name length` must be positive (therefore the first bit is always `0`), the first bit allows the receiver to see
+whether the strict format or the old format is used. Therefore a server and client using the different variants of the
+binary protocol can transparently talk with each other. However, when strict mode is enforced, the old format is
+rejected.
+
+Message types are encoded with the following values:
+
+* _Call_: 1
+* _Reply_: 2
+* _Exception_: 3
+* _Oneway_: 4
+
+## Struct
+
+A *Struct* is a sequence of zero or more fields, followed by a stop field. Each field starts with a field header and
+is followed by the encoded field value. The encoding can be summarized by the following BNF:
+
+```
+struct ::= ( field-header field-value )* stop-field
+field-header ::= field-type field-id
+```
+
+Because each field header contains the field-id (as defined by the Thrift IDL file), the fields can be encoded in any
+order. Thrift's type system is not extensible; you can only encode the primitive types and structs. Therefore is also
+possible to handle unknown fields while decoding; these are simply ignored. While decoding the field type can be used to
+determine how to decode the field value.
+
+Note that the field name is not encoded so field renames in the IDL do not affect forward and backward compatibility.
+
+The default Java implementation (Apache Thrift 0.9.1) has undefined behavior when it tries to decode a field that has
+another field-type then what is expected. Theoretically this could be detected at the cost of some additional checking.
+Other implementation may perform this check and then either ignore the field, or return a protocol exception.
+
+A *Union* is encoded exactly the same as a struct with the additional restriction that at most 1 field may be encoded.
+
+An *Exception* is encoded exactly the same as a struct.
+
+### Struct encoding
+
+In the binary protocol field headers and the stop field are encoded as follows:
+
+```
+Binary protocol field header and field value:
++--------+--------+--------+--------+...+--------+
+|tttttttt| field id | field value |
++--------+--------+--------+--------+...+--------+
+
+Binary protocol stop field:
++--------+
+|00000000|
++--------+
+```
+
+Where:
+
+* `tttttttt` the field-type, a signed 8 bit integer.
+* `field id` the field-id, a signed 16 bit integer in big endian order.
+* `field-value` the encoded field value.
+
+The following field-types are used:
+
+* `BOOL`, encoded as `2`
+* `BYTE`, encoded as `3`
+* `DOUBLE`, encoded as `4`
+* `I16`, encoded as `6`
+* `I32`, encoded as `8`
+* `I64`, encoded as `10`
+* `STRING`, used for binary and string fields, encoded as `11`
+* `STRUCT`, used for structs and union fields, encoded as `12`
+* `MAP`, encoded as `13`
+* `SET`, encoded as `14`
+* `LIST`, encoded as `15`
+
+## List and Set
+
+List and sets are encoded the same: a header indicating the size and the element-type of the elements, followed by the
+encoded elements.
+
+```
+Binary protocol list (5+ bytes) and elements:
++--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+...+--------+
+|tttttttt| size | elements |
++--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+...+--------+
+```
+
+Where:
+
+* `tttttttt` is the element-type, encoded as an int8
+* `size` is the size, encoded as an int32, positive values only
+* `elements` the element values
+
+The element-type values are the same as field-types. The full list is included in the struct section above.
+
+The maximum list/set size is configurable. By default there is no limit (meaning the limit is the maximum int32 value:
+2147483647).
+
+## Map
+
+Maps are encoded with a header indicating the size, the element-type of the keys and the element-type of the elements,
+followed by the encoded elements. The encoding follows this BNF:
+
+```
+map ::= key-element-type value-element-type size ( key value )*
+```
+
+```
+Binary protocol map (6+ bytes) and key value pairs:
++--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+...+--------+
+|kkkkkkkk|vvvvvvvv| size | key value pairs |
++--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+...+--------+
+```
+
+Where:
+
+* `kkkkkkkk` is the key element-type, encoded as an int8
+* `vvvvvvvv` is the value element-type, encoded as an int8
+* `size` is the size of the map, encoded as an int32, positive values only
+* `key value pairs` are the encoded keys and values
+
+The element-type values are the same as field-types. The full list is included in the struct section above.
+
+The maximum map size is configurable. By default there is no limit (meaning the limit is the maximum int32 value:
+2147483647).
+
+# BNF notation used in this document
+
+The following BNF notation is used:
+
+* a plus `+` appended to an item represents repetition; the item is repeated 1 or more times
+* a star `*` appended to an item represents optional repetition; the item is repeated 0 or more times
+* a pipe `|` between items represents choice, the first matching item is selected
+* parenthesis `(` and `)` are used for grouping multiple items