Linq to Xml VS XmlSerializer VS DataContractSerializer

Question

In my web method, I get an object of some third party C# entity class. The entity class is nothing but the DataContract. This entity class is quite com

Answer 1

I'll pick XmlSerializer because its the most maintainable for a custom schema (assuming you have the XSD). When you are done developing the system, test its performance in its entirety and determine whether XML serialization is causing problems. If it is, you can then replace it with something that requires more work and test it again to see if there is any gains. But if XML serialization isn't an issue, then you have maintainable code.

The time it takes to parse a small snippet of XML data may be negligible compared to communicating with the database or external systems. On systems with large memory (16GB+) you may find the GC being a bottleneck in .NET 4 and earlier (.NET 4.5 tries to solve this), especially when you work with very large data sets and streams.

Use AutoMapper to map objects created by XSD.EXE to your entities. This will allow the database design to change without impacting the web service.

One thing that is great about LINQ to XML is XSD validation. However, that impacts performance.