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C# Streams and Data Processing

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Introduction to Serialization

2:02 with Carling Kirk

Get an overview of serialization.

Introducing XML Serialization

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    [MUSIC] 0:00
    In the previous set of videos, we read data from a CSV file and 0:04
    created in memory objects with it. 0:09
    In computer programming, the need to save or 0:11
    load data that is stored somewhere is common. 0:14
    When we save data from in memory objects 0:17
    to another format that can be retrieved later that is called serialization. 0:20
    Conversely, the process of loading serialized data is deserialization. 0:25
    Technically when we read the soccer game result data from the CSV file, 0:31
    we deserialized it into objects in our program. 0:35
    Programmers usually wouldn't refer to that as serialization though 0:39
    because we didn't use a serializer to process the data. 0:42
    We wrote the processing logic ourselves. 0:46
    A serializer is something that knows how to translate the objects 0:49
    into a specific format. 0:52
    Common formats we use in .NET for serialization our JSON and XML. 0:54
    Both are considered to be human readable which means we can look at the files and 0:59
    interpret the data without assistance. 1:04
    In .NET there's also binary serialization, 1:07
    which saves the data as bytes to a binary file. 1:10
    If you tried to open up the file as text, it wouldn't be readable. 1:13
    As we learn about serialization, we'll be using streams 1:17
    to transport our data from the source format into our program. 1:21
    In the videos that follow we'll be using JSON as our serialization format. 1:26
    JSON is quickly becoming the preferred format for 1:31
    serialization in .NET but you might also come across XML. 1:33
    I've linked to some more resources for serializing to XML in the notes. 1:38
    The concept is mostly the same. 1:43
    You'll need a source stream, an XML serializer and an output stream. 1:44
    JSON stands for JavaScript object notation and 1:50
    is derived from the JavaScript language. 1:53
    If you've used JavaScript before it will look really familiar. 1:55
    If not, don't worry it's really easy to pick up. 1:59

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