ference</a></li>
  <li>the <a href="https://developers.google.com/protocol-buffers/docs/encoding">Encoding Reference</a></li>
</ul>
<p>Additionally, you may find these useful:</p>
<ul>
  <li>the <a href="https://developers.google.com/protocol-buffers/docs/reference/java/index.html">Java API Reference</a></li>
  <li>the <a href="https://developers.google.com/protocol-buffers/docs/reference/java-generated">Java Generated Code Guide</a></li>
</ul>
<h2><a href="#why-use-protocol-buffers-" name="why-use-protocol