+/**
+ * Represents a packet of serialized variables ready for transfer over the
+ * network. This method is most suitable for representing datagram
+ * packets, but it may also be useful for seralizing data for persistent
+ * state storage. The semantics are similar to that of a FIFO queue or
+ * stream where packets are written and read by inserting and extracting
+ * variables to and from the packet, although the actual order of the
+ * variables in the buffer may be different. At any time, a pointer to a
+ * buffer and the size of the buffer can be retrieved. This class also
+ * handles endian differences by serializing variables in network byte
+ * order (big endian).
+ */