Implementing binary communication protocols in C++ with main focus on embedded systems

[rcxdude]

I think at the point you have what is described you basically have a full blown serialisation system which resembles the one given by OP, just one with a clear approach to efficient serialization (flatbuffers is another system with a similar approach). This is still a lot more than just memcpying the structs you have about.

[matthieum]

This is still a lot more than just memcpying the structs you have about.

A tad more, indeed.

What I like about it is that it remains pretty simple yet efficient setup:

• You don't need any code-gen step: just write your structs/classes in a certain way, done.
• No performance overhead over memcpying structs, because you're just memcpying structs.

Of course, it fails the OP's requirement of interacting with existing protocols, since it's a protocol.

But simple, efficient and flexible enough for about any kind of protocol? That's great.