Serialization basics

Serialization basics.cs

using System;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters;
using System.IO;
using System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary;

class Program
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        //create an array with a few items
        Computer[] computers =
        {
            new Computer(1, "Laptop"),
            new Computer(2, "Desktop"),
            new Computer(3, "Tablet"), 
        };

        //create some reference variables for FileStream and BinaryFormatter methods
        var fileStream = new FileStream(@"C:\SampleFiles\Computers.dat", FileMode.Create);
        var serializer = new BinaryFormatter();
        
        //serialize the array to the path provided in the FileStream method and close
        serializer.Serialize(fileStream, computers);
        fileStream.Close();

        //create a new reference of FileStream method, this time to open
        fileStream = new FileStream(@"C:\SampleFiles\Computers.dat", FileMode.Open);
        
        //create a new array called serializedData which accesses BinaryFormatter.Deserialize
        //this will convert type object to type array, we must use a cast here
        Computer[] serializedData = (Computer[])serializer.Deserialize(fileStream);
        fileStream.Close();

        //loop through the deserialized array and print its contents
        foreach (var computer in serializedData)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Description: " + computer.Description);
        }
        Console.ReadLine();
    }
}

[Serializable]
class Computer
{
    public int Id { get; set; }

    public string Description { get; set; }

    public Computer()
    {
    }

    public Computer(int id, string description)
    {
        this.Id = id;
        this.Description = description;
    }
}