@barchart/binary-serializer-public

The Binary Serializer is a library designed for serializing objects (into a binary format) and deserializing objects (from the binary format).

Key Features

• Easy (De)serialization: Convert objects into byte arrays and vice versa.
• Customizable: Adjust the serialization process to fit your needs.
• Extensible: Add new features to the library as needed.
• Lightweight: Easy to add to your existing projects.

Example:

When serializing an object, the data is converted into a binary array. For example, consider the following class:

public class Person
{
    [Serialize]
    public string Name { get; set; } = "";
    
    [Serialize]
    public ushort Age { get; set; } = 0;
      
    [Serialize]
    public bool IsProgrammer { get; set; } = false;  
}

Here is an example of what the byte representation might look like:

10000000 00000001 01000000 00010000 10011100 10011110 01011000 01011011 10000110 00100000 00001000

Byte Representation:

• 10000000: Represents a Header byte. The first bit (1) indicates whether the data is a Snapshot. If the bit is set to 1, it means the data is a snapshot; otherwise, it is not. The last four bits (0000) represent the EntityId, which helps identify the type of entity the data represents. The EntityId can range from 0 to 15 (4 bits).
• 00000001 01000000 00xxxxxx: First two bits (00) represent the IsMissing and IsNull flags. The next two bytes (xx000001 01000000 000100xx) represents the string length.
• xx010000 10011100 10011110 01011000 01011011 10xxxxxx: Represents the encoded values of the characters in the Name property value using UTF-8 encoding by default (or any other encoding specified).
• xx000110 00100000 000xxxxx: First bit (0) represent the IsMissing flag. Tne next 2 bytes represents the ushort value for the Age property.
• xxx01000: First bit (0) represent the IsMissing flag. Tne next bit (1) represents a boolean value for the IsProgrammer property.

Property Flags: IsMissing and IsNull

For each non-key nullable property, two bits are reserved to indicate its state:

• IsMissing (1 bit):

  • If set to 1, the property is absent from the serialized data.

  • If set to 0, the property is included in the serialized data.

• IsNull (1 bit):

  • If set to 1, the property is present but its value is null.

  • If set to 0, the property has a valid, non-null value.

Key properties and non-nullable value types (e.g., int, bool, etc.) have a different binary representation. They are always present so they do not have an IsMissing flag, only an IsNull flag.

License

This software is available for use under the MIT license.