Serialization, marshalling, etc.: Difference between revisions

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+In programming, you often have
+* things you handle not as raw data but as symbolic representations, from arrays to objects
+* the need to write that to disk
+Writing such a thing to disk is often called serialization;
+reading it and turning it into  the more symbolic deserialization.
+Serialization and marshalling may have specific meanings in specific languages and their documentations,
+but over the general field of programming, there is no singular clear distinction.
+As such, they are sometimes synonymous.
+When both are used and a distinction ''is'' made, '''marshalling''' seems to often be more specific, e.g.
+: serialization with the specific intent to take it from one running program to another
+: serialization to get the exact same object back (not just write out some interesting parts)
+: serialization to be able to invoke it elsewhere  (Java, .NET)
+(deserialization, and respectively un-marshalling, are the counterpart)
 Serialization seems to originate from
 "that your programming language lets you think of it purely functionally is great and all,
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 (which, note, relates to the concept of [[reification]])

Latest revision as of 20:11, 27 June 2024