The namespace contains classes that can be used for serializing and deserializing objects. Serialization is the process of converting an object or a graph of objects into a linear sequence of bytes for either storage or transmission to another location. Deserialization is the process of taking in stored information and recreating objects from it.

The interface provides a way for classes to control their own serialization behavior. Classes in the namespace control the actual formatting of various data types encapsulated in the serialized objects. Formatters that serialize and deserialize objects to and from a particular format can be found in the namespace.