C# Console Application - JSON Serialization Demo

A C# console application demonstrating advanced JSON serialization and deserialization with custom type preservation.

Features

• Serializes and deserializes objects to/from JSON
• Preserves types in Dictionary<string, object> collections
• Handles special types like DateTime and bool correctly
• Supports nested objects, arrays, and dictionaries
• Interactive creation of objects to serialize

Custom Type Handling

This application includes a custom ObjectDictionaryConverter that properly handles various data types:

• Primitive types (string, int, double, bool)
• DateTime values (serialized in ISO 8601 format)
• Nested dictionaries and arrays
• Mixed-type collections

Project Structure

• Program.cs: Main entry point with demonstration code
• Person.cs: Sample class with a dictionary property for JSON serialization
• ObjectDictionaryConverter.cs: Custom JSON converter for type preservation
• ConsoleApp.csproj: Project file containing build configurations

Running the Application

You can run the application using the following command:

dotnet run

Building the Application

To build the application, use:

dotnet build

Implementation Details

The key to preserving types is the custom JsonConverter implementation that:

1. During serialization:

   • Handles each value type specifically (string, number, boolean, DateTime)
   • Formats DateTime values using ISO 8601
   • Recursively processes nested dictionaries and arrays

2. During deserialization:

   • Detects value types from JSON tokens
   • Attempts to parse strings as DateTime when they match date formats
   • Correctly reconstructs nested structures

Example Usage

var data = new Dictionary<string, object> 
{ 
    { "Text", "Sample text" },
    { "Number", 123 },
    { "IsValid", true },
    { "Created", DateTime.Now },
    { "Items", new[] { "Item1", "Item2", "Item3" } }
};

// Serialize
string json = JsonSerializer.Serialize(data);

// Deserialize
var deserialized = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<Dictionary<string, object>>(json);