using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

namespace Tango.Serialization
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Represent an interface for creating a custom data serializer.
    /// </summary>
    public interface IDataSerializer
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Serialize object to a file.
        /// </summary>
        /// <typeparam name="T">Type of specified object.</typeparam>
        /// <param name="obj">The specified object.</param>
        /// <param name="filePath">The full path to the file to write.</param>
        void SerializeToFile<T>(T obj, String filePath);

        /// <summary>
        /// Deserialize object from a file.
        /// </summary>
        /// <typeparam name="T">Type of object to deserialize.</typeparam>
        /// <param name="filePath">The full path of the data file.</param>
        /// <returns>The resulting object.</returns>
        T DeserializeFromFile<T>(String filePath);

        /// <summary>
        /// Serialize object to stream.
        /// </summary>
        /// <typeparam name="T">Type of specified object.</typeparam>
        /// <param name="obj">The specified object.</param>
        /// <param name="st">The stream to write.</param>
        void SerializeToStream<T>(T obj, Stream st);

        /// <summary>
        /// Deserialize object from stream.
        /// </summary>
        /// <typeparam name="T">Type of object to deserialize.</typeparam>
        /// <param name="st">Stream to read from.</param>
        /// <returns>The resulting object.</returns>
        T DeserializeFromStream<T>(Stream st);
    }
}