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Overview

CDDL (Concise Data Definition Language) is a domain-specific language for describing the structure of CBOR (Concise Binary Object Representation) and JSON data. It provides a human-readable way to specify data schemas with precise type definitions, constraints, and validation rules.

cddlc is an experimental golang code generator for CDDL1 based data schemas. It generates Go code for (de)serialization and validation of CBOR data structures.

Key Features

  • Code Generation: Automatically generates Go structs and methods from CDDL schemas
  • CBOR Support: Native support for CBOR serialization and deserialization
  • Type Safety: Generates strongly-typed Go code with compile-time guarantees
  • Validation: Built-in validation logic based on CDDL constraints
  • Extensible: Supports custom types and validation rules

Use Cases

cddlc is particularly useful for:

  • Protocol Implementation: Building CBOR-based network protocols
  • Data Exchange: Creating reliable data interchange formats
  • Configuration Files: Validating structured configuration data
  • IoT Applications: Efficient data representation for resource-constrained devices
  • API Development: Type-safe data contracts between services

How It Works

  1. Define Schema: Write your data structure definition in CDDL
  2. Generate Code: Run cddlc to generate Go types and methods
  3. Integrate: Use the generated code in your Go applications
  4. Validate: Automatically validate data against your schema

Quick Example

person = {
  name: text,
  age: uint,
  email: text,
  ? address: text
}

This CDDL definition generates Go structs with methods for marshaling, unmarshaling, and validation.

Getting Started

Ready to start using cddlc? Check out our Installation Guide to get up and running, then explore the Language Reference to learn CDDL syntax and features.

  1. Concise Data Definition Language (CDDL - RFC 8610) is a notational convention to express Concise Binary Object Representation (CBOR) and JSON Data Structures. ↩