Serialization enables data to be saved, sent over networks, or shared between systems.
Common formats
- JSON: Human-readable, web-standard (JavaScript Object Notation).
- XML: Verbose but flexible (eXtensible Markup Language).
- CSV: Simple tabular data (Comma-Separated Values).
- Binary: Protocol Buffers, MessagePack (efficient, compact).
- YAML: Human-friendly configuration (YAML Ain't Markup Language).
Use cases
- Saving application state to disk.
- Sending data over HTTP APIs.
- Inter-process communication.
- Database storage.
- Configuration files.
Considerations
- Performance: Binary formats are faster, text formats are debuggable.
- Size: Compression vs readability tradeoff.
- Compatibility: Cross-language support.
- Security: Deserialize untrusted data carefully (injection risks).
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