Summary

Its evident that serialization is a powerful and very useful mechanism for transporting complex data across processes, regardless of whether theyre running on the same machine or across a network. The .NET Framework offers three types of serialization, and each has its advantages. Binary serialization is the easiest of all serializers to use and also produces the most compact data. The XML serializer offers interoperability and portability at the expense of a much larger serialized data size . Finally, serializing to SOAP allows interoperability with SOAP-based services such as .NET Remoting and Web services. The ability to serialize data forms the building blocks for many technologies such as .NET Remoting and Web services, which are covered later in this book.