Tinyhand on NuGet

Tinyhand

Tinyhand is a tiny and simple data format/serializer largely based on MessagePack for C# by neuecc, AArnott.

This document may be inaccurate. It would be greatly appreciated if anyone could make additions and corrections.

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Requirements
Quick Start
Performance
Serialization Target
Features
Original formatter

Requirements

Visual Studio 2022 or later for Source Generator V2.

C# 12 or later for generated codes.

.NET 8 or later target framework.

Quick Start

Install Tinyhand using Package Manager Console.

Install-Package Tinyhand

This is a small sample code to use Tinyhand.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using Tinyhand;

namespace ConsoleApp1;

[TinyhandObject] // Annote a [TinyhandObject] attribute.
public partial class MyClass // partial class is required for source generator.
{
    // Key attributes take a serialization index (or string name)
    // The values must be unique and versioning has to be considered as well.
    [Key(0)]
    public int Age { get; set; }

    [Key(1)]
    public string FirstName { get; set; } = string.Empty;

    [Key(2)]
    [DefaultValue("Doe")] // If there is no corresponding data, the default value is set.
    public string LastName { get; set; } = string.Empty;

    // All fields or properties that should not be serialized must be annotated with [IgnoreMember].
    [IgnoreMember]
    public string FullName { get { return FirstName + LastName; } }

    [Key(3)]
    public List<string> Friends { get; set; } = default!; // Non-null value will be set by TinyhandSerializer.

    [Key(4)]
    public int[]? Ids { get; set; } // Nullable value will be set null.

    public MyClass()
    {
        // this.Reconstruct(TinyhandSerializerOptions.Standard); // optional: Call Reconstruct() to actually create instances of members.
    }
}

[TinyhandObject]
public partial class EmptyClass
{
}

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        // TinyhandModule_ConsoleApp1.Initialize(); // Initialize() method is required on some platforms (e.g Xamarin, Native AOT) which does not support ModuleInitializer attribute.

        var myClass = new MyClass() { Age = 10, FirstName = "hoge", LastName = "huga", };
        var b = TinyhandSerializer.Serialize(myClass);
        var myClass2 = TinyhandSerializer.Deserialize<MyClass>(b);

        b = TinyhandSerializer.Serialize(new EmptyClass()); // Empty data
        var myClass3 = TinyhandSerializer.Deserialize<MyClass>(b); // Create an instance and set non-null values of the members.

        var myClassRecon = TinyhandSerializer.Reconstruct<MyClass>(); // Create a new instance whose members have default values.
    }
}

Performance

Simple benchmark with protobuf-net, MessagePack for C# and MemoryPack.

Tinyhand is quite fast and since it is based on Source Generator, it does not take time for dynamic code generation.

Method	Mean	Error	StdDev	Median	Gen0	Allocated
SerializeProtoBuf	401.90 ns	1.847 ns	9.089 ns	397.35 ns	0.0973	408 B
SerializeMessagePack	170.99 ns	0.365 ns	1.865 ns	171.32 ns	0.0134	56 B
SerializeMemoryPack	112.48 ns	0.996 ns	5.054 ns	110.51 ns	0.0229	96 B
SerializeTinyhand	80.51 ns	0.104 ns	0.524 ns	80.72 ns	0.0134	56 B
DeserializeProtoBuf	689.49 ns	1.435 ns	7.297 ns	686.76 ns	0.0763	320 B
DeserializeMessagePack	288.63 ns	0.306 ns	1.556 ns	288.71 ns	0.0668	280 B
DeserializeMemoryPack	124.30 ns	0.367 ns	1.895 ns	123.35 ns	0.0668	280 B
DeserializeTinyhand	145.02 ns	1.230 ns	6.186 ns	149.17 ns	0.0668	280 B
SerializeMessagePackString	178.74 ns	0.286 ns	1.446 ns	178.45 ns	0.0153	64 B
SerializeTinyhandString	128.12 ns	0.196 ns	0.986 ns	127.69 ns	0.0153	64 B
SerializeTinyhandUtf8	650.83 ns	0.720 ns	3.589 ns	650.99 ns	0.0916	384 B
SerializeJsonUtf8	495.27 ns	1.119 ns	5.672 ns	495.46 ns	0.0954	400 B
DeserializeMessagePackString	286.31 ns	1.621 ns	8.287 ns	281.30 ns	0.0668	280 B
DeserializeTinyhandString	175.70 ns	0.531 ns	2.624 ns	175.77 ns	0.0744	312 B
DeserializeTinyhandUtf8	1,319.04 ns	1.088 ns	5.512 ns	1,321.51 ns	0.1526	640 B
DeserializeJsonUtf8	1,045.53 ns	1.286 ns	6.574 ns	1,047.47 ns	0.2232	936 B

Pitfalls

ModuleInitializer

Some AOT platforms (e.g Xamarin, Native AOT) currently does not support ModuleInitializer attribute.

Tinyhand use ModuleInitializer attribute to load generated formatters, so you need to call Initialize() method manually on these platforms.

// Add this code before the first use of Tinyhand.
TinyhandModule_YourAssemblyName.Initialize(); // Assembly name is necessary to avoid name conflict in multiple assemblies.

Serialization Target

All public members are serialization targets by default. You need to add Key attributes to public members unless ImplicitKeyAsName is set to true.

[TinyhandObject]
public partial class DefaultBehaviourClass
{
    [Key(0)]
    public int X; // Key required

    public int Y { get; private set; } // Not required since it's private setter.

    [Key(1)]
    private int Z; // By adding the Key attribute, You can add a private member to the serialization target.
}

[TinyhandObject(ImplicitKeyAsName = true)]
public partial class KeyAsNameClass
{
    public int X; // Serialized with the key "X"

    public int Y { get; private set; } // Not a serialization target (due to the private setter)

    [Key("Z")]
    private int Z; // Serialized with the key "Z"
    
    [KeyAsName]
    public int A; // Use the member name as the key "A".
}

Readonly and Getter-only

Readonly fields is not serialization target by default.

By explicitly adding a Key attribute, you can make it a serialization target.

unsafe compiler option is required to serialize readonly fields.

[TinyhandObject]
public partial class ReadonlyGetteronlyClass
{
    [Key(0)]
    public readonly int X; // `unsafe` required.

    [Key(1)]
    public int Y { get; } = 0; // Error!
}

Getter-only property is not supported.

Init-only property and Record type

Init-only property and record type are supported.

[TinyhandObject]
public partial record RecordClass // Partial record required.
{// Default constructor is not required for record types.
    [Key(0)]
    public int X { get; init; }

    [Key(1)]
    public string A { get; init; } = default!;
}

[TinyhandObject(ImplicitKeyAsName = true)] // Short version, but string key is a bit slower than integer key.
public partial record RecordClass2(int X, string A);

Include private members

By setting IncludePrivateMembers to true, you can add private and protected members to the serialization target.

[TinyhandObject(IncludePrivateMembers = true)]
public partial class IncludePrivateClass
{
    [Key(0)]
    public int X; // Key required

    [Key(1)]
    public int Y { get; private set; } // Key required

    [IgnoreMember]
    private int Z; // Add the IgnoreMember attribute to exclude from serialization targets.
}

Explicit key only

By setting ExplicitKeyOnly to true, only members with the Key attribute will be serialized.

[TinyhandObject(ExplicitKeyOnly = true)]
public partial class ExplicitKeyClass
{
    public int X; // Not serialized (no error message).

    [Key(0)]
    public int Y; // Serialized
}

Features

Handling nullable reference types

Tinyhand tries to handle nullable/non-nullable reference types properly.

[TinyhandObject(ImplicitKeyAsName = true)]
public partial class NullableTestClass
{
    public int Int { get; set; } = default!; // 0

    public int? NullableInt { get; set; } = default!; // null

    public string String { get; set; } = default!;
    // If this value is null, Tinyhand will automatically change the value to string.Empty.

    public string? NullableString { get; set; } = default!;
    // This is nullable type, so the value remains null.

    public NullableSimpleClass SimpleClass { get; set; } = default!; // new SimpleClass()

    public NullableSimpleClass? NullableSimpleClass { get; set; } = default!; // null

    public NullableSimpleClass[] Array { get; set; } = default!; // new NullableSimpleClass[0]

    public NullableSimpleClass[]? NullableArray { get; set; } = default!; // null

    public NullableSimpleClass[] Array2 { get; set; } = new NullableSimpleClass[] { new NullableSimpleClass(), null! };
    // null! will be change to a new instance.

    public Queue<NullableSimpleClass> Queue { get; set; } = new(new NullableSimpleClass[] { null!, null!, });
    // null! remains null because it loses information whether it is nullable or non-nullable in C# generic methods.
}

[TinyhandObject]
public partial class NullableSimpleClass
{
    [Key(0)]
    public double Double { get; set; }
}

public class NullableTest
{
    public void Test()
    {
        var t = new NullableTestClass();
        var t2 = TinyhandSerializer.Deserialize<NullableTestClass>(TinyhandSerializer.Serialize(t));
    }
}

Default value

You can specify the default value for a member using DefaultValueAttribute (System.ComponentModel).

If the serialized data does not have a matching data for a member, Tinyhand will set the default value for that member.

Primitive types (bool, sbyte, byte, short, ushort, int, uint, long, ulong, float, double, decimal, string, char, enum) are supported.

[TinyhandObject(ImplicitKeyAsName = true)]
public partial class DefaultTestClass
{
    [DefaultValue(true)]
    public bool Bool { get; set; }

    [DefaultValue(77)]
    public int Int { get; set; }

    [DefaultValue("test")]
    public string String { get; set; }
    
    [DefaultValue("Test")] // Default value for TinyhandObject is supported.
    public DefaultTestClassName NameClass { get; set; }
}

[TinyhandObject(ImplicitKeyAsName = true)]
public partial class StringEmptyClass
{
}

[TinyhandObject]
public partial class DefaultTestClassName
{
    public DefaultTestClassName()
    {
        
    }

    public void SetDefault(string name)
    {// To receive the default value, SetDefault() is required.
        // Constructor -> SetDefault -> Deserialize or Reconstruct
        this.Name = name;
    }

    public string Name { get; private set; }
}

public class DefaultTest
{
    public void Test()
    {
        var t = new StringEmptyClass();
        var t2 = TinyhandSerializer.Deserialize<DefaultTestClass>(TinyhandSerializer.Serialize(t));
    }
}

You can skip serializing values if the value is identical to the default value, by using [TinyhandObject(SkipSerializingDefaultValue = true)].

Reconstruct

Tinyhand creates an instance of a member variable even if there is no matching data. By adding [Reconstruct(false)] or [Reconstruct(true)] to member attributes, you can change the behavior of whether an instance is created or not.

[TinyhandObject(ImplicitKeyAsName = true)]
public partial class ReconstructTestClass
{
    [DefaultValue(12)]
    public int Int { get; set; } // 12

    public EmptyClass EmptyClass { get; set; } = default!; // new()

    [Reconstruct(false)]
    public EmptyClass EmptyClassOff { get; set; } = default!; // null

    public EmptyClass? EmptyClass2 { get; set; } // null

    [Reconstruct(true)]
    public EmptyClass? EmptyClassOn { get; set; } // new()

    /* Error. A class to be reconstructed must have a default constructor.
    [IgnoreMember]
    [Reconstruct(true)]
    public ClassWithoutDefaultConstructor WithoutClass { get; set; }*/

    [IgnoreMember]
    [Reconstruct(true)]
    public ClassWithDefaultConstructor WithClass { get; set; } = default!;
}

public class ClassWithoutDefaultConstructor
{
    public string Name = string.Empty;

    public ClassWithoutDefaultConstructor(string name)
    {
        this.Name = name;
    }
}

public class ClassWithDefaultConstructor
{
    public string Name = string.Empty;

    public ClassWithDefaultConstructor(string name)
    {
        this.Name = name;
    }

    public ClassWithDefaultConstructor()
        : this(string.Empty)
    {
    }
}

If you don't want to create an instance with default behavior, set ReconstructMember of TinyhandObject to false [TinyhandObject(ReconstructMember = false)].

Reuse Instance

Tinyhand will reuse an instance if its members have valid values. The type of the instance to be reused must have a TinyhandObject attribute.

By adding [Reuse(true)] or [Reuse(false)] to member attributes, you can change the behavior of whether an instance is reused or not.

[TinyhandObject(ReuseMember = true)]
public partial class ReuseTestClass
{
    [Key(0)]
    [Reuse(false)]
    public ReuseObject ObjectToCreate { get; set; } = new("create");

    [Key(1)]
    public ReuseObject ObjectToReuse { get; set; } = new("reuse");

    [IgnoreMember]
    public bool Flag { get; set; } = false;
}

[TinyhandObject(ImplicitKeyAsName = true)]
public partial class ReuseObject
{
    public ReuseObject()
        : this(string.Empty)
    {
    }

    public ReuseObject(string name)
    {
        this.Name = name;
        this.Length = name.Length;
    }

    [IgnoreMember]
    public string Name { get; set; } // Not a serialization target

    public int Length { get; set; }
}

public class ReuseTest
{
    public void Test()
    {
        var t = new ReuseTestClass();
        t.Flag = true;
        // t2.Flag == true
        // t2.ObjectToCreate.Name == "create", t2.ObjectToCreate.Length == 6
        // t2.ObjectToReuse.Name == "reuse", t2.ObjectToReuse.Length == 5

        var t2 = TinyhandSerializer.Deserialize<ReuseTestClass>(TinyhandSerializer.Serialize(t)); // Reuse member
        // t2.Flag == false
        // t2.ObjectToCreate.Name == "", t2.ObjectToCreate.Length == 6 // Note that Name is not a serialization target.
        // t2.ObjectToReuse.Name == "reuse", t2.ObjectToReuse.Length == 5

        t2 = TinyhandSerializer.DeserializeWith<ReuseTestClass>(t, TinyhandSerializer.Serialize(t)); // Reuse ReuseTestClass
        // t2.Flag == true
        // t2.ObjectToCreate.Name == "", t2.ObjectToCreate.Length == 6
        // t2.ObjectToReuse.Name == "reuse", t2.ObjectToReuse.Length == 5
        
        var reader = new Tinyhand.IO.TinyhandReader(TinyhandSerializer.Serialize(t));
        t.Deserialize(ref reader, TinyhandSerializerOptions.Standard); ; // Same as above
    }
}

If you don't want to reuse an instance with default behavior, set ReuseMember of TinyhandObject to false [TinyhandObject(ReuseMember = false)].

Use Service Provider

By default, Tinyhand requires default constructor for deserialization.

[TinyhandObject]
public partial class SomeClass
{
    public SomeClass(ISomeService service)
    {
    }
}

Above code causes an exception during source code generation since Tinyhand doesn't know how to create an instance.

By setting TinyhandSerializer.ServiceProviderand UseServiceProvider to true, Tinyhand can create an instance without default constructor.

[TinyhandObject(UseServiceProvider = true)]
public partial class SomeClass
{
    public SomeClass(ISomeService service)
    {
    }
}

TinyhandSerializer.ServiceProvider = someContainer;
var c = TinyhandSerializer.Deserialize<SomeClass>(b);

Union

Tinyhand supports serializing interface-typed and abstract class-typed objects. It behaves like XmlInclude or ProtoInclude. In Tinyhand these are called Union. Only interfaces and abstracts classes are allowed to be annotated with TinyhandUnion attributes. Unique union keys (int) are required.

// Annotate inheritance types
[TinyhandUnion(0, typeof(UnionTestClassA))]
[TinyhandUnion(1, typeof(UnionTestClassB))]
public interface IUnionTestInterface
{
    void Print();
}

[TinyhandObject]
public partial class UnionTestClassA : IUnionTestInterface
{
    [Key(0)]
    public int X { get; set; }

    public void Print() => Console.WriteLine($"A: {this.X.ToString()}");
}

[TinyhandObject]
public partial class UnionTestClassB : IUnionTestInterface
{
    [Key(0)]
    public string Name { get; set; } = default!;

    public virtual void Print() => Console.WriteLine($"B: {this.Name}");
}

public static class UnionTest
{
    public static void Test()
    {
        var classA = new UnionTestClassA() { X = 10, };
        var classB = new UnionTestClassB() { Name = "test", };

        var b = TinyhandSerializer.Serialize((IUnionTestInterface)classA);
        var i = TinyhandSerializer.Deserialize<IUnionTestInterface>(b);
        i?.Print(); // A: 10

        b = TinyhandSerializer.Serialize((IUnionTestInterface)classB);
        i = TinyhandSerializer.Deserialize<IUnionTestInterface>(b);
        i?.Print(); // B: test
    }
}

Please be mindful that you cannot reuse the same keys in derived types that are already present in the parent type, as internally a single flat array or map will be used and thus cannot have duplicate indexes/keys.

Text Serialization

Tinyhand can serialize an object to Tinyhand text format .

// Serialize an object to string (UTF-16 text) and deserialize from it.
var myClass = new MyClass() { Age = 10, FirstName = "hoge", LastName = "huga", };
var st = TinyhandSerializer.SerializeToString(myClass);
var myClass2 = TinyhandSerializer.DeserializeFromString<MyClass>(st);

The result is

{
  10, "hoge", "huga", null, null
}

UTF-8 version is available.

var utf8 = TinyhandSerializer.SerializeToUtf8(myClass);
var myClass3 = TinyhandSerializer.DeserializeFromUtf8<MyClass>(utf8);

Text Serialization is optional because it is 5 to 8 times slower than binary serialization.

Max length

You can set the maximum length of members by adding MaxLength attribute and setting AddProperty of Key attribute.

[TinyhandObject]
public partial record MaxLengthClass
{
    [Key(0, AddProperty = "Name")] // "Name" property will be created.
    [MaxLength(3)] // The maximum length of Name property.
    private string name = default!;

    [Key(1, AddProperty = "Ids")]
    [MaxLength(2)]
    private int[] id = default!;

    [Key(2, AddProperty = "Tags")]
    [MaxLength(2, 3)] // The maximum length of an array and length of a string.
    private string[] tags = default!;

    public override string ToString()
        => $"""
        Name: {this.Name}
        Ids: {string.Join(',', this.Ids)}
        Tags: {string.Join(',', this.Tags)}
        """;
}

public static class MaxLengthTest
{
    public static void Test()
    {
        var c = new MaxLengthClass();
        c.Name = "ABCD"; // "ABC"
        c.Ids = new int[] { 0, 1, 2, 3 }; // 0, 1,
        c.Tags = new string[] { "aaa", "bbbb", "cccc" }; // "aaa", "bbb",

        Console.WriteLine(c.ToString());
        Console.WriteLine();

        var st = TinyhandSerializer.SerializeToString(c);
        st = """ "ABCD", {0, 1, 2, 3}, {"aaa", "bbbb", "cccc"} """;
        var c2 = TinyhandSerializer.DeserializeFromString<MaxLengthClass>(st);

        Console.WriteLine(c2!.ToString());
        Console.WriteLine();
    }
}

Versioning

Tinyhand serializer is version tolerant. If you serialize a version 1 object and deserialize it as version 2, the new members will be set to their default values. In the opposite direction, if you serialize a version 2 object and deserialize it as version 1, the new members will just be ignored.

[TinyhandObject]
public partial class VersioningClass1
{
    [Key(0)]
    public int Id { get; set; }

    public override string ToString() => $"  Version 1, ID: {this.Id}";
}

[TinyhandObject]
public partial class VersioningClass2
{
    [Key(0)]
    public int Id { get; set; }

    [Key(1)]
    [DefaultValue("John")]
    public string Name { get; set; } = default!;

    public override string ToString() => $"  Version 2, ID: {this.Id} Name: {this.Name}";
}

public static class VersioningTest
{
    public static void Test()
    {
        var v1 = new VersioningClass1() { Id = 1, };
        Console.WriteLine("Original Version 1:");
        Console.WriteLine(v1.ToString());// Version 1, ID: 1

        var v12 = TinyhandSerializer.Deserialize<VersioningClass2>(TinyhandSerializer.Serialize(v1))!;
        Console.WriteLine("Serialize v1 and deserialize as v2:");
        Console.WriteLine(v12.ToString());// Version 2, ID: 1 Name: John (Default value is set)

        Console.WriteLine();

        var v2 = new VersioningClass2() { Id = 2, Name = "Fuga", };
        Console.WriteLine("Original Version 2:");
        Console.WriteLine(v2.ToString());// Version 2, ID: 2 Name: Fuga

        var v21 = TinyhandSerializer.Deserialize<VersioningClass1>(TinyhandSerializer.Serialize(v2))!;
        Console.WriteLine("Serialize v2 and deserialize as v1:");
        Console.WriteLine(v21.ToString());// Version 1, ID: 2 (Name ignored)
    }
}

Lock object

To acquire a mutual-exclusion lock during serialization and deserialization, add a LockObject property.

[TinyhandObject(LockObject = "syncObject")]
public partial class LockObjectClass
{
    [Key(0)]
    public int X { get; set; }

    private object syncObject = new();
}

Generated code is

static void ITinyhandSerialize<LockObjectClass>.Serialize(ref TinyhandWriter writer, scoped ref LockObjectClass? v, TinyhandSerializerOptions options)
{
    if (v == null)
    {
        writer.WriteNil();
        return;
    }

    lock (v.syncObject)
    {
        if (!options.IsSignatureMode) writer.WriteArrayHeader(1);
        writer.Write(v.X);
    }
}

Serialization Callback

Objects implementing the ITinyhandSerializationCallback interface will receive OnBeforeSerialize and OnAfterDeserialize calls during serialization/deserialization.

[TinyhandObject]
public partial class SampleCallback : ITinyhandSerializationCallback
{
    [Key(0)]
    public int Key { get; set; }

    public void OnBeforeSerialize()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("OnBefore");
    }

    public void OnAfterDeserialize()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("OnAfter");
    }
}

Deep copy

You can easily create a deep copy of the object by simply writing this code TinyhandSerializer.Clone(obj).

[TinyhandObject(ExplicitKeyOnly = true)]
public partial class DeepCopyClass
{
    public int Id { get; set; }

    public string[] Name { get; set; } = new string[] { "A", "B", };

    public UnknownClass? UnknownClass { get; set; }

    public KnownClass? KnownClass { get; set; }
}

public class UnknownClass
{
}

[TinyhandObject]
public partial class KnownClass
{
    [Key(0)]
    public float?[] Single { get; init; } = new float?[] { 0, 1, null, };
}

public static class DeepCopyTest
{
    public static void Test()
    {
        var c = new DeepCopyClass();
        c.UnknownClass = new();
        c.KnownClass = new();

        var d = TinyhandSerializer.Clone(c);
        c.Name[1] = "C";
        Debug.Assert(c.Name[1] != d.Name[1]); // c.Name and d.Name are different since d is a deep copy.
        Debug.Assert(d.UnknownClass == null); // UnknownClass is ignored since Tinyhand doesn't know how to create a deep copy of UnknownClass.
        Debug.Assert(d.KnownClass != null); // Tinyhand can handle a class with TinyhandObjectAttribute.
        
        var e = TinyhandSerializer.Deserialize<DeepCopyClass>(TinyhandSerializer.Serialize(c)); // Almost the same as above, but Clone() is much faster.
    }
}

TinyhandSerializer.Clone(obj) is almost the same as TinyhandSerializer.Deserialize<Class>(TinyhandSerializer.Serialize(obj)), but Clone() is much faster.

Method	Mean	Error	StdDev	Median	Gen 0	Gen 1	Gen 2	Allocated
Clone_Raw	38.74 ns	0.312 ns	0.448 ns	38.66 ns	0.0421	-	-	176 B
Clone_SerializeDeserialize	282.87 ns	3.473 ns	4.636 ns	278.95 ns	0.0534	-	-	224 B
Clone_Clone	48.72 ns	1.020 ns	1.397 ns	48.86 ns	0.0421	-	-	176 B

Built-in supported types

These types can serialize by default:

Primitives (int, string, etc...), Enums, Nullable<>, Lazy<>
TimeSpan, DateTime, DateTimeOffset
Guid, Uri, Version, StringBuilder
BigInteger, Complex
Array[], Array[,], Array[,,], Array[,,,], ArraySegment<>, BitArray
KeyValuePair<,>, Tuple<,...>, ValueTuple<,...>
ArrayList, Hashtable
List<>, LinkedList<>, Queue<>, Stack<>, HashSet<>, ReadOnlyCollection<>, SortedList<,>
IList<>, ICollection<>, IEnumerable<>, IReadOnlyCollection<>, IReadOnlyList<>
Dictionary<,>, IDictionary<,>, SortedDictionary<,>, ILookup<,>, IGrouping<,>, ReadOnlyDictionary<,>, IReadOnlyDictionary<,>
ObservableCollection<>, ReadOnlyObservableCollection<>
ISet<>,
ConcurrentBag<>, ConcurrentQueue<>, ConcurrentStack<>, ConcurrentDictionary<,>
Immutable collections (ImmutableList<>, etc)
Custom implementations of ICollection<> or IDictionary<,> with a parameterless constructor
Custom implementations of IList or IDictionary with a parameterless constructor

LZ4 Compression

Tinyhand has LZ4 compression support.

var b = TinyhandSerializer.Serialize(myClass, TinyhandSerializerOptions.Lz4);
var myClass2 = TinyhandSerializer.Deserialize<MyClass>(b, TinyhandSerializerOptions.Standard.WithCompression(TinyhandCompression.Lz4)); // Same as TinyhandSerializerOptions.Lz4

Non-Generic API

var myClass = (MyClass)TinyhandSerializer.Reconstruct(typeof(MyClass));
var b = TinyhandSerializer.Serialize(myClass.GetType(), myClass);
var myClass2 = TinyhandSerializer.Deserialize(typeof(MyClass), b);

Custom formatter

To create an custom formatter:

Create a formatter and register it with BuiltinResolver.
Source generator needs to be informed that the formatter exists. Register it with FormatterResolver.

Principles for creating a custom formatter:

To improve performance, consider encapsulating everything within a single element (such as Binary).
If splitting into multiple elements, use Array or Map. Simply listing elements can lead to data structure corruption when Arrays or Maps are used at a higher level.

public sealed class IPEndPointFormatter : ITinyhandFormatter<IPEndPoint>
{
    public static readonly IPEndPointFormatter Instance = new IPEndPointFormatter();

    public void Serialize(ref TinyhandWriter writer, IPEndPoint? value, TinyhandSerializerOptions options)
    {// Nil or Bin8(Address, Port(4))
        if (value == null)
        {
            writer.WriteNil();
            return;
        }

        var span = writer.GetSpan(32);
        if (value.Address.TryWriteBytes(span.Slice(2), out var written))
        {
            span[0] = MessagePackCode.Bin8;
            span[1] = (byte)(written + 4); // Address + Port(4)
            BitConverter.TryWriteBytes(span.Slice(2 + written), value.Port);
            writer.Advance(2 + written + 4);
        }
        else
        {
            writer.WriteNil();
            return;
        }
    }

    public IPEndPoint? Deserialize(ref TinyhandReader reader, TinyhandSerializerOptions options)
    {
        if (!reader.TryReadBytes(out var span) ||
            span.Length < 4)
        {
            return null;
        }

        var port = BitConverter.ToInt32(span.Slice(span.Length - 4));
        return new IPEndPoint(new IPAddress(span.Slice(0, span.Length - 4)), port);
    }

    public IPEndPoint Reconstruct(TinyhandSerializerOptions options)
    {
        return new IPEndPoint(IPAddress.None, 0);
    }

    public IPEndPoint? Clone(IPEndPoint? value, TinyhandSerializerOptions options) => value == null ? null : new IPEndPoint(new IPAddress(value.Address.GetAddressBytes()), value.Port);
}

Tinyhand
Release 0.81.5

Release 0.81.5

0.84.1

0.84.0

0.83.0

0.82.1

0.82.0

0.81.5

0.81.4

0.81.3

0.81.2

0.81.1

Documentation

Tinyhand

Table of Contents

Requirements

Quick Start

Performance

Pitfalls

ModuleInitializer

Serialization Target

Readonly and Getter-only

Init-only property and Record type

Include private members

Explicit key only

Features

Handling nullable reference types

Default value

Reconstruct

Reuse Instance

Use Service Provider

Union

Text Serialization

Max length

Versioning

Lock object

Serialization Callback

Deep copy

Built-in supported types

LZ4 Compression

Non-Generic API

Custom formatter

Stats

Development practices

Releases

Contributors

Tinyhand Release 0.81.5

Release 0.81.5 Toggle Dropdown 0.84.1 0.84.0 0.83.0 0.82.1 0.82.0 0.81.5 0.81.4 0.81.3 0.81.2 0.81.1

Documentation

Tinyhand

Table of Contents

Requirements

Quick Start

Performance

Pitfalls

ModuleInitializer

Serialization Target

Readonly and Getter-only

Init-only property and Record type

Include private members

Explicit key only

Features

Handling nullable reference types

Default value

Reconstruct

Reuse Instance

Use Service Provider

Union

Text Serialization

Max length

Versioning

Lock object

Serialization Callback

Deep copy

Built-in supported types

LZ4 Compression

Non-Generic API

Custom formatter

Stats

Development practices

Releases

Contributors

Tinyhand
Release 0.81.5

Release 0.81.5

0.84.1

0.84.0

0.83.0

0.82.1

0.82.0

0.81.5

0.81.4

0.81.3

0.81.2

0.81.1