PBF: Low-Level Protocol Buffers for JavaScript

PBF is a low-level, fast, and ultra-lightweight JavaScript library (3KB gzipped) for efficiently decoding and encoding Protocol Buffers (protobuf), a compact binary format for structured data serialization. Version 4.0.1 is the current stable release, which includes minor fixes building upon the significant 4.0.0 overhaul. The library is actively maintained, with a recent major release focusing on modernizing the codebase and developer experience. A key differentiator of PBF is its exceptional performance, consistently outperforming `JSON.parse`/`JSON.stringify` and other protobuf implementations like `protocol-buffers` in benchmarks. It supports lazy decoding and offers extensive customization options for reading and writing data, making it suitable for both Node.js and browser environments where performance and bundle size are critical considerations.