{"id":10223,"library":"serial","title":"Serial","description":"The `serial` library provides a framework for simple and powerful serialization and deserialization of Python class instances to and from various data formats like JSON, YAML, and XML. It leverages schema definitions for robust type handling and validation. The current version is 0.0.97, and it maintains an active development pace, though it is still in a pre-1.0 state.","status":"active","version":"0.0.97","language":"en","source_language":"en","source_url":"https://github.com/shubhamsaxena/serial","tags":["serialization","deserialization","json","yaml","xml","schema","validation"],"install":[{"cmd":"pip install serial","lang":"bash","label":"Install stable version"}],"dependencies":[],"imports":[{"note":"The Serializer class is directly available from the top-level 'serial' package.","wrong":"from serial.serializer import Serializer","symbol":"Serializer","correct":"from serial import Serializer"},{"note":"The Deserializer class is directly available from the top-level 'serial' package.","wrong":"from serial.deserializer import Deserializer","symbol":"Deserializer","correct":"from serial import Deserializer"},{"note":"Importing 'fields' directly provides access to all field types (Integer, String, Email, etc.).","wrong":"from serial.fields import *","symbol":"fields","correct":"from serial import fields"}],"quickstart":{"code":"from serial import Serializer, Deserializer, fields\nimport json\n\n# Define a schema for a simple User object\nuser_schema = {\n    \"id\": fields.Integer(required=True),\n    \"name\": fields.String(required=True),\n    \"email\": fields.Email(required=False),\n    \"is_active\": fields.Boolean(default=True)\n}\n\n# Create a serializer instance for JSON\nuser_serializer = Serializer(user_schema, format=\"json\")\n\n# Create a deserializer instance for JSON\nuser_deserializer = Deserializer(user_schema, format=\"json\")\n\n# Example data to serialize\nuser_data = {\"id\": 1, \"name\": \"Alice Wonderland\", \"email\": \"alice@example.com\"}\n\n# Serialize the data\nserialized_output = user_serializer.serialize(user_data)\nprint(f\"Serialized JSON: {serialized_output}\")\n\n# Deserialize the data\ndeserialized_object = user_deserializer.deserialize(serialized_output)\nprint(f\"Deserialized Object: {deserialized_object}\")","lang":"python","description":"This quickstart demonstrates how to define a schema using `serial.fields`, instantiate `Serializer` and `Deserializer` for JSON format, and then serialize a Python dictionary into JSON and deserialize it back. It showcases basic schema validation and default value handling."},"warnings":[{"fix":"Always confirm the purpose of the library when importing `serial`. If you need serial port communication, install `pyserial` and import `import serial` (it's confusing!). If you need data serialization, install `serial` and import `from serial import Serializer` etc.","message":"This `serial` library for data serialization is distinct from `pyserial` (often imported as `serial`), which is used for serial port communication. Users frequently confuse the two due to the similar package name.","severity":"gotcha","affected_versions":"All versions"},{"fix":"Pin your dependency to an exact version (`serial==0.0.97`) to avoid unexpected breakages. Regularly check the GitHub repository for release notes before upgrading.","message":"The library is in a pre-1.0 state (version 0.0.x), which means breaking changes can occur between minor or even patch versions without adhering to strict semantic versioning.","severity":"breaking","affected_versions":"< 1.0.0"},{"fix":"Wrap serialization/deserialization calls in `try...except serial.exceptions.ValidationError` blocks to gracefully handle invalid input data. Implement client-side validation where possible to prevent these errors.","message":"Schema validation errors, such as missing required fields or type mismatches, are raised as `serial.exceptions.ValidationError` exceptions.","severity":"gotcha","affected_versions":"All versions"}],"env_vars":null,"last_verified":"2026-04-17T00:00:00.000Z","next_check":"2026-07-16T00:00:00.000Z","problems":[{"fix":"Install the library using pip: `pip install serial`","cause":"You are trying to import the `serial` library, but it has not been installed in your current Python environment.","error":"ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'serial'"},{"fix":"If you intend to use *this* data serialization library, import `from serial import Serializer` or `from serial import Deserializer`. If you intend to use `pyserial` for serial port communication, ensure `pyserial` is installed (`pip install pyserial`) and then use `import serial` (note the import name for `pyserial` is still `serial`).","cause":"This error often occurs when users confuse this `serial` library (for data serialization) with `pyserial` (for serial port communication). `pyserial` provides a class named `Serial`, whereas this `serial` library provides `Serializer` and `Deserializer`.","error":"AttributeError: module 'serial' has no attribute 'Serial'"},{"fix":"Ensure that all fields marked as required in your `serial.fields` schema are present in the dictionary you are attempting to serialize or deserialize. For example, if 'name' is required, `{'id': 1}` will fail, but `{'id': 1, 'name': 'John'}` will pass.","cause":"Your input data is missing one or more fields that are marked as `required=True` in your defined schema.","error":"serial.exceptions.ValidationError: Missing required fields: ['name']"}]}