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BinarySerialize
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BinarySerialize

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gives a binary representation of any expression expr as a ByteArray object.

Details and Options

Examples

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Basic Examples  (2)Summary of the most common use cases

Serialize an expression:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-dtz2bj
Out[1]=1

Serialize a graphic:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-r0ncs0
Out[1]=1

Convert the serialized form back to an expression:

In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-jbyww0
Out[2]=2

Scope  (7)Survey of the scope of standard use cases

Apply BinarySerialize to symbolic expressions:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-e04lg0
Out[1]=1

Serialize an image:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-pyo6yb
Out[1]=1

Note that the size of the serialized form roughly equals the byte count of the expression:

In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-ngaye1
Out[2]=2

BinarySerialize efficiently stores machine integers:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-2ierp7
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-keugy7
Out[2]=2
In[3]:=3
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-rqnn5
Out[3]=3

BinarySerialize efficiently stores machine reals:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-9f97vt
Out[1]=1

Compare with an arbitrary-precision real:

In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-qznw81
Out[2]=2

BinarySerialize efficiently stores strings:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-pu3bu
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-brpsv
Out[2]=2
In[3]:=3
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-lmtwbs
Out[3]=3

BinarySerialize supports ByteArray:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-57jjrq
Out[1]=1

BinarySerialize supports packed arrays:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-42ndw4
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-xqpv6b
Out[2]=2
In[3]:=3
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-s37fjc
Out[3]=3

Options  (4)Common values & functionality for each option

Method  (3)

Create a packed array of integer values:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-p9lwvf

By default, BinarySerialize uses the smallest integer type that fits the data:

In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-88fq51
Out[2]=2

Serialize the packed array using a bigger integer type:

In[3]:=3
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-6yxy3r
Out[3]=3

Create a packed array of real values:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-ny8mvf
Out[1]=1

Serialize the array:

In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-yoadh6
Out[2]=2

Serialize the array using machine floats, trading precision for a smaller output:

In[3]:=3
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-l8qyg5
Out[3]=3

Create a packed array of complex values:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-x9xo0o
Out[1]=1

Serialize the array:

In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-4ky10q
Out[2]=2

Serialize the array using lower precision:

In[3]:=3
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-ju8coy
Out[3]=3

PerformanceGoal  (1)

Serialize a Dataset:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-l8quoo
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-76rrkh
Out[2]=2

Serialize the same Dataset with PerformanceGoal set to "Size":

In[3]:=3
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-twbjkd
Out[3]=3

Both forms represent the same expression:

In[4]:=4
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-6jxmxq
Out[4]=4

Applications  (1)Sample problems that can be solved with this function

Serialize a trained neural network:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-umda61
Out[1]=1

Create a new file:

In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-5gk91p

Open an output binary stream:

In[3]:=3
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-x7a3w5
Out[3]=3

Write the serialized expression to the file:

In[4]:=4
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-itn40n
Out[4]=4
In[5]:=5
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-xk3nwc

Read the data from the file:

In[6]:=6
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-hbwuzy
Out[6]=6

Plot the prediction of the net as a function of the input:

In[7]:=7
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-4nfqxj
Out[7]=7

Properties & Relations  (4)Properties of the function, and connections to other functions

Using PerformanceGoal->"Speed" is faster but produces larger outputs:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-3dvzik
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-psh3fa
Out[2]=2

Using PerformanceGoal->"Size" is slower but produces smaller outputs:

In[3]:=3
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-jnazi
Out[3]=3

BinarySerialize encodes strings as UTF-8:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-q2292h
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-j2isqc
Out[2]=2

BinaryDeserialize is the inverse of BinarySerialize:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-b5ub8s
Out[1]=1

DumpSave stores definitions attached to a symbol in a file:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-xgde8t
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-9ge5zy

Using Get will return Null but restore the value of f:

In[3]:=3
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-1oplbk
Out[3]=3

BinarySerialize only stores the input expression, which can be restored by BinaryDeserialize:

In[4]:=4
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-gsh3dt
Out[4]=4

Possible Issues  (2)Common pitfalls and unexpected behavior

From small expressions, PerformanceGoal->"Size" may not produce smaller outputs:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-mb304t
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-k0fkzg
Out[2]=2

The Method parameter "PackedArrayIntegerType" must be chosen consistently with the data:

In[1]:=1
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-xpfjet
Out[1]=1

These values require 32-bit integers:

In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-x7q3rt
Out[2]=2

A setting of Automatic will always use a size that fits the data:

In[3]:=3
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0g7kkijo9nq-nogcmt
Out[3]=3
Wolfram Research (2017), BinarySerialize, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/BinarySerialize.html (updated 2018).
✖
Wolfram Research (2017), BinarySerialize, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/BinarySerialize.html (updated 2018).

Text

Wolfram Research (2017), BinarySerialize, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/BinarySerialize.html (updated 2018).

✖
Wolfram Research (2017), BinarySerialize, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/BinarySerialize.html (updated 2018).

CMS

Wolfram Language. 2017. "BinarySerialize." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2018. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/BinarySerialize.html.

✖
Wolfram Language. 2017. "BinarySerialize." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2018. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/BinarySerialize.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (2017). BinarySerialize. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/BinarySerialize.html

✖
Wolfram Language. (2017). BinarySerialize. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/BinarySerialize.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_binaryserialize, author="Wolfram Research", title="{BinarySerialize}", year="2018", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/BinarySerialize.html}", note=[Accessed: 06-April-2025 ]}

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@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_binaryserialize, author="Wolfram Research", title="{BinarySerialize}", year="2018", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/BinarySerialize.html}", note=[Accessed: 06-April-2025 ]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2025_binaryserialize, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={BinarySerialize}, year={2018}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/BinarySerialize.html}, note=[Accessed: 06-April-2025 ]}

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@online{reference.wolfram_2025_binaryserialize, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={BinarySerialize}, year={2018}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/BinarySerialize.html}, note=[Accessed: 06-April-2025 ]}