Search code examples
phpdesign-patternsserializationpoco

Pattern to abstract serialization\deserialization details from data classes

In my current PHP project I have a number of classes that are pure data-classes, similar what is called POCO in C# world (I omit getters\setters for now):

class MyEntity {
    public $id;
    public $name;
}

I need to serialize\deserialize such entities in different formats (for example, to/from JSON and XML) and keep serialization detailes out of the classes itself.

For deserialization a Builder pattern seems to be a good choice, but I'm not sure about serialization. I suppose I'm missing something obvious here.

Solution

  • Sounds like strategy pattern to me. Define common interface and implement various serialization strategies. Invoke based on context.