Created a simple data serialization library, to serialize and deserialize the data to be sent

includes/serialization.h

@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+#ifndef _SERIALIZATION_H
+#define _SERIALIZATION_H
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+extern "C" {
+#endif
+
+#include <stdint.h>
+
+/* Struct used to hold the data that will be sent between sockets */
+typedef struct {
+	uint16_t pad_x;
+	uint16_t pad_y;
+	uint16_t ball_x;
+	uint16_t ball_y;
+} Serial_Data;
+
+/* Create a Serial_Data struct from float values */
+Serial_Data Serial_create_data(float pad_x, float pad_y, float ball_x, float ball_y);
+
+/* Serialize a struct into a byte array, that can be sent through a socket */
+uint8_t* Serial_serialize(Serial_Data data);
+
+/* Deserialize a byte array into a struct, and return the struct */
+Serial_Data Serial_deserialize(uint8_t* serialized);
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+}
+#endif
+
+#endif

serialization.c

@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+#include <stdint.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include "includes/serialization.h"
+
+/* Takes in float values, casts them to uint16_t and creates a Serial_Data struct */
+Serial_Data Serial_create_data(float pad_x, float pad_y, float ball_x, float ball_y) {
+	Serial_Data data;
+	data.pad_x = (uint16_t)pad_x;
+	data.pad_y = (uint16_t)pad_y;
+	data.ball_x = (uint16_t)ball_x;
+	data.ball_y = (uint16_t)ball_y;
+	
+	return data;
+}
+
+/* Serializes a 'Data' struct into a byte array */
+uint8_t* Serial_serialize(Serial_Data data) {
+	/* Create a pointer that can fit the entire struct */
+	uint8_t* serialized = malloc(sizeof(Serial_Data));
+	/* Store the data into the pointer, by using an incremented memory address for each successive store */
+	*serialized = data.pad_x;
+	*(serialized + sizeof(uint16_t)) = data.pad_y;
+	*(serialized + 2 * sizeof(uint16_t)) = data.ball_x;
+	*(serialized + 3 * sizeof(uint16_t)) = data.ball_y;
+
+	return serialized;
+}
+
+/* Deserialize a byte array into a 'Data' struct */
+Serial_Data Serial_deserialize(uint8_t* serialized) {
+	Serial_Data deserialized;
+	/* Use successive chunks of memory address to create pointers to the data */
+	uint8_t* pad_x_ptr = serialized;
+	uint8_t* pad_y_ptr = serialized + sizeof(uint16_t);
+	uint8_t* ball_x_ptr = pad_y_ptr + sizeof(uint16_t);
+	uint8_t* ball_y_ptr = ball_x_ptr + sizeof(uint16_t);
+
+	/* Dereference (and cast) the pointers, and store them into the struct */
+	deserialized.pad_x = *((uint16_t *)pad_x_ptr);
+	deserialized.pad_y = *((uint16_t *)pad_y_ptr);
+	deserialized.ball_x = *((uint16_t *)ball_x_ptr);
+	deserialized.ball_y = *((uint16_t *)ball_y_ptr);
+	
+	return deserialized;
+}
+