From: Christopher Peplin <chris.peplin@rhubarbtech.com>
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2014 01:41:35 +0000 (-0400)
Subject: Explain when to use JSON vs. binary.
X-Git-Tag: 5.0.2~275^2~8^2~29
X-Git-Url: https://gerrit.automotivelinux.org/gerrit/gitweb?a=commitdiff_plain;h=570048644e960862858dfd984c34f55f6b63144f;p=apps%2Fagl-service-can-low-level.git

Explain when to use JSON vs. binary.
---

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3e496bd5..3e169709 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -9,9 +9,13 @@ interfaces (e.g. USB or Bluetooth) as JSON or Protocol Buffers (protobuf).
 
 ## Binary (Protocol Buffers)
 
-The Protocol Buffer format is specified in the file `openxc.proto`. Those are
-published using the standard length-delimited method (any protobuf library
-should support this).
+The binary format is encoded using [Google Protocol
+Buffers](https://code.google.com/p/protobuf/). The format is specified in the
+file `openxc.proto`. Those are published using the standard length-delimited
+method (any protobuf library should support this).
+
+The binary format is best if you need to maximize the amount of data that can be
+sent from the VI, trading off flexibility for efficiency.
 
 ## JSON
 
@@ -19,6 +23,9 @@ This document describes the JSON format and includes a high level description of
 each type and field. Each JSON message published by a VI is delimited with a
 `\0 ` character.
 
+The JSON format is best for most developers, as it is fairly efficient and very
+flexible.
+
 ### Extra Values
 
 Any of the following JSON objects may optionally include an `extras`