Binäärisarjallistaminen

Binäärisarjallistaminen, known in English as binary serialization, is a process of converting data structures or object states into a sequence of bytes. This byte sequence can then be stored in a file, transmitted across a network, or reconstructed later into the original data structure. Unlike text-based serialization formats like JSON or XML, binary serialization produces a more compact representation and can be faster to process due to the absence of parsing text.

The core idea behind binäärisarjallistaminen is to map the data's internal representation directly to a binary format. This often involves specifying the order and type of data elements. For instance, an integer might be represented by a fixed number of bytes, a string by its length followed by its character data, and complex objects by a sequence of their member variables. Different binary serialization formats exist, each with its own advantages and disadvantages regarding efficiency, extensibility, and language independence.

Common use cases for binäärisarjallistaminen include efficient data storage, inter-process communication where performance is critical, and network protocol design. It is widely used in various programming languages and frameworks, often as a default or high-performance option for object persistence and data exchange. The trade-off for efficiency is typically reduced human readability compared to text-based formats.