Marshalling vs Unmarshalling

In software development, particularly in the context of distributed systems and communication between different components or services, the concepts of marshalling and un-marshalling are essential for data transmission and inter-process communication.

Marshalling

Marshalling, also known as serialization or encoding, refers to the process of converting a complex data structure or object into a format suitable for transmission over a network or storage in a file. This involves transforming the data into a linear sequence of bytes that can be easily transmitted or stored and later reconstructed.

During marshalling, the data structure is broken down into its constituent parts, and each part is converted into a format that can be transmitted or stored. This process often involves converting data types, handling complex structures such as nested objects or arrays, and adding metadata to facilitate reconstruction on the receiving end.

Unmarshalling

Unmarshalling, also known as deserialization or decoding, is the inverse process of marshalling. It involves reconstructing the original data structure or object from the serialized form received over the network or retrieved from storage.

During unmarshalling, the serialized data is parsed and decoded, and the original data structure is reconstructed based on the encoded information. This process often involves reversing the transformations applied during marshalling, such as converting encoded data back into their original data types and reconstructing complex structures from their serialized representations.

Example: Consider a scenario where two micro-services communicate with each other over a network. Service A sends a request containing a complex object to Service B. Before transmitting the object over the network, Service A marshals or serializes the object into a binary or textual format. Service B receives the serialized object and unmarshals or deserializes it to reconstruct the original object and process the request.