Conclusion
As you have just seen, serialization is fairly easy to implement. I've already
listed several possible reasons to use serialization in your applications
and now that you know how to do it, I will leave the rest to your own capable
imaginations. This article has focused only on how to serialize an object
into an XML document, but please remember that objects can also be serialized
into binary or SOAP formats. To learn more about those types of serialization,
look up the BinaryFormatter class and the SOAPFormatter class.
Maybe this powerful technology didn't really have its humble beginnings in
the bottom of a glass of powdered milk - but for some reason, it makes me smile
to think so. Then again, maybe someday we'll see Bill Gates or one of his .NET
guys sporting a liquidy white moustache on one of those "Got Milk" ads.
Happy Programming!