C# 8.0 in a Nutshell

Chapter 17. Serialization

This chapter introduces serialization and deserialization, the mechanism by which objects can be represented in a flat-text or binary form. Unless otherwise stated, the types in this chapter all exist in the following namespaces:

System.Runtime.Serialization
System.Xml.Serialization
System.Text.Json

We cover the data contract serializer in an online supplement.

Serialization Concepts

Serialization is the act of taking an in-memory object or object graph (set of objects that reference one another) and flattening it into a stream of bytes, XML, JSON, or a similar representation that can be stored or transmitted. Deserialization works in reverse, taking a data stream and reconstituting it into an in-memory object or object graph.

Serialization and deserialization are typically used to do the following:

• Transmit objects across a network or application boundary

• Store representations of objects within a file or database

Another, less common use is to deep-clone objects. You also can use the data contract and XML serialization engines as general-purpose tools for loading and saving XML files of a known structure, whereas the JSON serializer can do the same for JSON files.

.NET Core supports serialization and deserialization both from the perspective of clients wanting to serialize and deserialize objects, and from the perspective of types wanting some control over how they are serialized.

Serialization Engines

There are four serialization engines in .NET ...