I have used it extensively for both memory reduction and message size reduction. In the latter case, we had fixed-size messages with multiple components, so pa

I have used it extensively for both memory reduction and message size reduction. In the latter case, we had fixed-size messages with multiple components, so packing the values made more sense. We had things like custom floating-point formats, encodings that packed X n-bit integers into Y 32-bit integers, common exponent encodings, and other stuff. Many of those encodings and packings, particularly for the fixed-size messages, used structure bitfield magic. We has a few variable-sized messages too, though, where I had to do things like what the OP did.