C# default value in constructor same as two constructors for serialization

Question

When I provide a constructor with a default value

  public MyClass(string description = null) { .... }

is this equivalent to

  public MyClass() { .... }
  public MyClass(string description) { .... }

in terms of Serialization. In other words, is a default constructor available? Practically it is, but will I face some issues when I use serialization?

Answer 1

No. It unfortunately is not a default constructor.

When you write:

public MyClass(string description = null) { .... }

You're actually making a constructor that accepts a string parameter, but has an attribute marking the default value for that attribute. This is different than having a default constructor on the class.

Answer 2

Yes, you will have problems in that case.

I've tried to call a constructor described by you via reflection, and it thrown TargetInvokationException: (Argument count mismatch).