Thrift binary protocol

Apache Thrift, a serialization/RPC system with much more emphasis on RPC than serialization, calls its serialization formats "protocols"; the oldest Thrift-specific protocol is the "binary" protocol, while the newer one is the "compact" protocol.

Identification
In the new ("strict") header type, binary protocol files start with a one-byte message type, a zero byte, and then the version indicator. . (This version indicator has been steady since at least as far back as 2011.) This is followed by an encoded string (a 32-bit length and series of bytes) and a 32-bit sequence ID.

In the old (non-"strict") header type, the message begins with the encoded string of the message name, followed by the type byte, followed by a 32-bit sequence ID.

Links

 * Thrift website
 * The original Thrift description
 * A brief description of protocols