Serializing object to byte-array in C++

Question

I am working on an embedded device (microcontroller), and I want to save objects to permanent storage (an EEPROM). Most of the serialization solutions I can find, use the fi

Answer 1

To save a string to binary, usually we save its length and then its content. To save other primitive data, we can simply store their binary form. So in your case, all you need to store is:

Length to name
char array of name
age
weight

So the code to serial is:

size_t buffer_size = sizeof(int) + strlen(name) + sizeof(age) + sizeof(weight);
char *buffer = new char[buffer_size];
*(int*)p = strlen(name);  p += sizeof(int);
memcpy(p, name, strlen(name));  p += strlen(name);
*(int*)p = age;  p += sizeof(int);
*(float*)p = weight;
EEPROM::Save(buffer, buffer_size);
delete[] buffer;

And to read a string from binary buffer, you read its length first, and then copy its data.